CA- Gag order in molester case

6-10-2008 California:

Judge says he won't release Lamb as transient

A judge Monday sternly chastised South County residents who "have been intimidating or possibly threatening" a neighbor who withdrew his offer to rent his Bradley home to sexually violent predator James Lamb.

Judge Richard Curtis then slapped a gag order on the case, prohibiting any court officer, public employee or state contractor from discussing the search for Lamb's future residence.

Curtis said he'd never before issued such a "protective order" but decided it was necessary because the extent of publicity could affect Lamb's due-process rights.

In addition, he said he would keep tabs on the renewed efforts to find housing for Lamb via closed-door conference calls with attorneys, and set an Aug. 7 court hearing for a public status hearing.

The state Department of Mental Health has inquired about more than 1,000 houses since Curtis ordered Lamb conditionally released from the Sexually Violent Predator Program on July 4, 2007. Lamb, who has admitted molesting more than 50 children, has been in lockdown and receiving therapy in the program since 1998.

The former Spreckels resident has completed all of the in-house phases of the program and been voluntarily castrated in his effort to be freed. Under the conditional release program, he will receive continued outpatient therapy, must live under strict conditions and be monitored by a global-positioning device for at least a year.

State law requires Lamb be placed in Monterey County because it is the location of his last offense. After considerable review, Curtis and the state had settled on a mobile home overlooking Lake San Antonio owned by Joseph Smith, a retired Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputy.

Smith's offer to rent the home for $3,500 a month was withdrawn after strenuous objections by local residents.

A "very disappointed" Curtis said he had planned to prohibit Lamb from turning right from the property onto Jolon Road or venturing into the local communities. Unfortunately, he said, "that was taken care of by the acts of one or two people in South County."

He warned those in attendance that other counties facing similar situations had been forced to release sexually violent predators as transients.

"I want to make it clear, that is not going to happen in Monterey County," he said. And because state law prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, he said, any suitable residence will be in a "semi-rural or rural area."

Apparently referring to a Herald report that it would cost about $35,000 a month to house and protect Lamb and the community he lives in, Curtis said he'd rather spend the money "feeding hungry children or sending children to college ... but the law requires me to follow the law."

Fewer residents than usual attended Monday's hearing and one said the District Attorney's Office asked that they not to show up in force. Some went away asking how they were supposed to know if the next recommended house was in their area if no one was allowed to talk about it.

Paula Roth, one of the residents who has fought the placement, said she sees the situation as a "societal issue."

"People have said, 'We know where you don't want him, but where should he go?'" she said. "I have no answer to that."

"The judge can say what he wants about South County residents," Roth said, "but it could be anyone threatening Mr. Smith." ..News Source.. by Virginia Hennessey