Local leaders are demanding state officials scuttle plans to house a man they consider a high-risk sex offender in Chico.
Fraisure Earl Smith, identified on the Megan’s Law database as a sexually violent predator, has been in a sort of limbo since being cleared for release from Coalinga State Hospital three years ago.
Public pressure has effectively blocked efforts to place Smith in Fairfield, Vallejo or elsewhere in Solano County, his last place of residence.
According to published reports, the 52-year-old Smith was convicted of five violent assaults on women. The most recent, the rape of a 17-year-old, occurred nine years ago.
Officials claim robust monitoring and treatment minimize risks to the public. Local officials, angered that they’re being asked to welcome a former convict other communities refused, are stepping up their rhetoric.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, District Attorney Mike Ramsey and Chico Police Chief Mike O’Brien have all announced their opposition. Yesterday, State Senator Jim Neilsen joined in.
“Such an individual should never go back to the community until they’re NOT diagnosed as a sexually violent predator,” he said. “To any community. And the law requires them to go back to the community of their last legal residence. Butte County is not the last legal residence.”
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for the Solano County Court in Fairfield May 10.