A man dubbed the Bolder Than Most Rapist for committing a series of rapes in the 1980s was conditionally released from custody, according to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department.
Alvin Ray Quarles, who pleaded guilty to four forcible rape counts in 1989, served 25 years in state prison, spent about a decade afterward undergoing sex offender treatment at Coalinga State Hospital, from which he was released on Tuesday. Prosecutors said Quarles would assault his victims at knifepoint, sometimes forcing the women’s boyfriends or husbands to watch.
Alvin Quarles spent 20 years in state prison and an additional 10 years in a state hospital. NBC 7’s Dana Williams reports on Dec. 19, 2024.
“Pursuant to a court order, Quarles has been released into the community as a transient,” SDSO officials said in a news release sent out Tuesday. “He is temporarily housed at 1138 Custer Road, Campo, under the Conditional Release Program.”
Quarles, who is required to registered as a registered sex offender for his entire life, will be under round-the-clock supervision conducted by Liberty Health Care, a private company contracted by the state of California, officials said.
“Liberty Health Care has a security employee who accompanies him on a 24/7 basis,” the sheriff’s office said on Tuesday.
In that same statement sent out Tuesday, the sheriff’s department went on to specifically say that neither it, the DA’s office or the SAFE Task Force “was responsible for the selection of this location,” adding, rather that the Department of State Hospitals conducted the site-selection process.
Quarles’ release is part of the conditional release program for sexually violent predators, or SVPs — individuals convicted of sexually violent crimes and diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes them likely to re-offend.
After serving their prison sentences, SVPs undergo treatment at state hospitals, but may petition courts to continue their treatment in outpatient locations, where they are monitored and must abide by stringent conditions.
Quarles was ordered conditionally released nearly a year ago by San Diego County Superior Court Judge David M. Gill, but the subsequent search for a housing location for Quarles was unsuccessful, leading a different judge to order a “transient release.”
-In mid-December, San Diego Superior Court Judge Marian Gaston ordered that Quarles be released no later than Jan. 21 to a “non-fixed residence” recommended by Liberty Healthcare, which operates the state’s conditional release program for sexually violent predators. Quarles’ release conditions include 24/7 GPS monitoring, as well as security guards or law enforcement on-site on a round-the-clock basis.
A judge approved the release for Alvin Ray Quarles — and not for the first time — reports NBC 7’s Dana Williams.
Locating housing for sexually violent predators has proven difficult due to the many regulations over where they can be housed and the common public backlash over their releases. A state audit released earlier this year said it takes an average of 19 months to find a suitable SVP housing location in San Diego County.
Another SVP, Merle Wakefield, was ordered released on transient status in November after a four-year housing search that resulted in three proposed housing recommendations that were either rejected by a judge or rescinded by state hospital officials. Wakefield was ultimately released to a home in Jacumba Hot Springs on a temporary basis.
In both Quarles’ and Wakefield’s cases, judges ordered that however their housing situations play out, they would not be returned to the state hospital unless they violated the conditions of their release.
Among those who attended court in December in opposition to Quarles’ release was Stephen Taylor, the husband of one of Quarles’ victims, Mary Taylor.
“Despite him being older now, I think the potential is still there that he can perpetrate [more crimes],” Taylor said after the hearing. “I’m really concerned about members of the community who could be at risk.”
Terri Larson, a friend of Taylor’s and member of the citizens group Your Voice Has Power, called Quarles “a monster, and said the public should be privy to what led state hospital officials to recommend his release.
