Anger over sex predator’s early arrival
Yuba County’s top law enforcement officials lodged complaints with Liberty Healthcare over the early placement of a sexually vio- lent predator in District 10.
District Attorney Pat McGrath and Sheriff Steven Durfor said Eldridge Lindsey Chaney Jr., who was expected to be placed in transitional housing the afternoon of June 1, was placed a day early without local officials being notified.
“There have not been any issues since his placement, but we are somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that Liberty Healthcare did not follow through on the agree- ment to place Mr. Chaney on June 1,” McGrath said.
They are even more upset over Liberty’s failure to communicate.
Sheriff’s Department personnel had been notifying area residents that Chaney would be placed June 1.
“We feel that it would be terrible for both of our reputations – and the trust we have with those community members – if they were to
find out later that he was placed a day early. So the answer is, we didn’t know it either,” McGrath said. “… It’s a tough time to be in public service right now, because of the distrust some people have for the government and law enforcement, but the most important thing for us is the relationship we have with the people living in Yuba County, so we felt compelled to (inform the newspaper).”
Durfor said another promise Liberty Healthcare officials made was that Chaney’s first stop in Yuba County would be at the sheriff’s office to meet with local law enforcement, register as a sex offender and go over the terms and conditions of the sexually violent predator’s release from a state hospital.
However, it wasn’t until Sheriff’s Department officials went to the property around midday Thursday that they realized Chaney had already been placed.
Durfor said law enforcement went to the house to assess the situation before his expected arrival when they noticed activity within the property.
When they contacted Liberty Healthcare, they were then told that Chaney had already been placed the day before.
McGrath said they had a conversation with representatives from Liberty Healthcare – the company responsible for Chaney’s supervision – regarding the misinformation. The supervisor said it was an executive decision and that he was not part of the decision-making process.
“I have no doubt that he passed on our concerns to the administrator or executive director of Liberty Healthcare about what happened and the anger the sheriff and I expressed,” McGrath said.
Durfor said the public should know that they will insist on getting a better explanation as to what happened.
“We are absolutely going to do everything in our power to backtrack this up the chain to determine who made the decision to deliver him early and how it transpired to the point where we were not notified,” Durfor said. “It was totally contrary to all the conversations we had with Liberty Healthcare up to that point.”
Chaney did not go to the Sheriff’s Department until around 12:30 p.m. June 1. He was registered as a sex offender and then returned to the Ellis Road property.
“There have been no changes to Mr. Chaney’s terms and conditions,” Durfor said. “I went through every step of his security plan that was initially provided to us by Liberty Healthcare. Every one of those security measures remains in place and intact.”
Durfor said the plan is still to have Chaney under 24/7 doubleshift supervision, and that Liberty Healthcare has reaffirmed they will notify the Sheriff’s Department of any modifications.
“Considering how we’ve started, it has certainly caused me to question them on whether they will hold true to that,” Durfor said.
McGrath said he expects to have a more in-depth conversation with Liberty Healthcare leadership sometime next week, as well as representatives from the California Department of State Hospitals.
“We still have some follow-up that needs to be done on this,” Durfor said. “We are certainly going to seek answers as to why and how this happened.”
Chaney was classified as a sexually violent predator for criminal convictions involving rape, sexual assault and assault to commit rape. His convictions stem from crimes committed between 1978-88 in Seaside.
He spent more than 10 years in prison before becoming eligible for the California State Sex Offender program in 2000.
After years in a state mental hospital, the state deemed Chaney eligible for conditional release. His placement in Yuba County is a step toward transitioning him back into society.