OFFICIALS PROPOSE PREDATOR BE PLACED IN BORREGO SPRINGS

Hearing to determine whether Martinez will live in desert community

State authorities on Friday proposed placing a man classified as a sexually violent predator in the desert town of Borrego Springs, where he would live under supervision if a judge approves the location.

Under the proposal, 69year-old Michael Martinez would live at 3406 Running M Road, in a neighborhood east of Borrego Springs Road in the southern portion of the community of about 3,000 residents.

A hearing to discuss the proposed placement location has been scheduled for 10 a.m. July 8 in front of San Diego Superior Court Judge David Gill. Public comments will be accepted during the hearing, as well as by phone, email and mail between June 1 and June 15.

To be classified by the state as a sexually violent predator, or SVP, a person has to have been convicted of a violent sex crime against at least one victim, and be diagnosed with a condition, such as pedophilia, that makes that person likely to reoffend. The designation is reserved for less than 1 percent of the state’s sexual offender population and means those people can be committed to state hospitals long after serving their prison terms.

Martinez has convictions for child molestation and other offenses involving underage victims in four separate cases dating back to 1979 in San Diego and Los Angeles counties, and has been diagnosed with pedophilia and personality disorders, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

Martinez was last sentenced to prison in 2004, for a four-year term, but prior to his release, the District Attorney’s Office petitioned to have him civilly committed to a state hospital. In 2009, a jury deter

Michael Martinez