PREDATOR COULD BE PLACED OUTSIDE EL CAJON
78-year-old man with history of violent sexual assault granted release
State hospital officials have proposed placing a 78-year-old sexually violent predator at a home near the foot of Mount Helix, just outside of El Cajon city limits, the Sheriff ’s Department announced Monday. A virtual hearing to address the placement of Douglas Badger is set for 9 a.m. April 20 in San Diego Superior Court, at which time community members can comment on the proposed placement at 10957 Horizon Hills Drive.
Badger, who has a history of assaulting young male hitchhikers at gunpoint, was released from prison in 1997 and has spent most of the past two dozen years in maximum-security state hospitals — first Atascadero State Hospital in San Luis Obispo County and then Coalinga State Hospital in Fresno County — participating in a sex offender treatment program.
To be classified by the state as a sexually violent predator, a person has to have been convicted of a violent sex crime against at least one victim, and be diagnosed with a condition that makes that person likely to re-offend.
Badger has convictions from 1981 in Riverside County and 1991 in San Diego County, and was sent to prison twice, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Badger has also been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and sexual sadism.
Badger’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
While at the state hospital, sexually violent predators can take part in a treatment program aimed at curbing their criminal urges. Eventually, they can ask the court to release them to live in the community, under supervision by state authorities, where they are required to continue treatment on an outpatient basis. The process is a civil matter — not criminal.
Releasing them into the community, even under strict supervision, has been a contentious issue. Despite
what the law allows, some lawmakers and residents have argued that people designated as sexually violent predators should never be released.
District Attorney Summer Stephan has pushed back against some judges’ decisions to close certain evidentiary hearings involving sexually violent predators when medical records are being discussed, and is a backer of legislation that would force such hearings to remain open. The county Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 earlier this month against supporting the same
legislation, SB 248.
In Badger’s case, a judge rejected his attorney’s request last year to close the evidentiary hearing.
A judge first approved Badger’s release from the state hospital in 2005, only to rescind it before he was placed in the community when it emerged that a psychologist who treated him had an affair with another sexually violent predator.
In 2006, a judge again approved Badger’s release and he was placed in a trailer on the grounds of Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa, where he lived until 2007, when he was sent back to the hospital for
what authorities said at the time were medical reasons.
The District Attorney’s Office said a judge revoked Badger’s conditional release at the time.
In 2013, he again filed a petition to be released, and a judge again approved his conditional, supervised release. But according to the District Attorney’s Office, unspecified incidents that occurred at Coalinga State Hospital prompted him to withdraw his petition before a community placement location could be found.
Badger filed another petition for release in 2018, then withdrew it five months later before a judge could make a ruling, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Last year, he filed his most recent petition for release and underwent a four-day trial in December to determine his fitness to be released.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers made a ruling in January, finding Badger to be eligible under the state’s Conditional Release Program.
Those wishing to view Badger’s April 20 hearing and offer comment can do so on Zoom. Public comments can also be submitted by email or by calling (858) 495-3619 before April 9.