Officials Strongly Object To Placing Convicted Sexual Predator In Redwood City Neighborhood
REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- San Mateo County Sheriff Carlos G. Bolanos and Redwood City Police Chief Dan Mulholland have voiced strong objections over a court-ordered plan to place convicted sexual predator Michael Thomas Cheek in the Emerald Hills area of Redwood City.
A court hearing has been scheduled for March 1 in Santa Cruz County Superior Court -- the county where Cheek was sentenced in 1980 to 20 years in prison for the kidnapping, rape and oral copulation of a 21-year-old female. He was also convicted of a Lake County sexual assault of a 15-year-old.
Cheek was committed on August 1997 to the Department of State Hospitals in Coalinga.
Judge Stephen Siegel ordered Cheeks conditional release on October 7, 2019, to begin outpatient treatment and supervision as the final phase of the relapse prevention program.
"The court has found reason to place Mr. Cheek outside the County in which the crimes were committed and/or the County in which he had his primary residence," Redwood City officials said in a posting to local residents. "For this reason, a tentative order has been issued for Mr. Cheek to reside in the Redwood City area of San Mateo County. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and Redwood City Police Department strongly object to the tentative order allowing a Sexually Violent Predator to live in this area."
Sheriff's deputies and Redwood City police officers have gone door-to-door in the Emerald Hills area to notify the public. Members of the community were also been given the opportunity to provide input to the Santa Cruz County Court regarding Cheek's release.
