prison release

HEARING OCT. 26 ON PLACING CHILD MOLESTER IN JACUMBA HOT SPRINGS

By Miriam Raftery
 
September 16, 2020 (Jacumba Hot Springs) – Joseph Bocklett, a 75-year-old sexually violent predator convicted of molesting three children ages 4 to 9, may be placed at 45612 Old Highway 80 in Jacumba Hot Springs. A public hearing on his proposed release into the supervised home is slated for October 26 at the Superior Court in San Diego.
 
He was originally slated for release into Pauma Valley in North County, but that proposal was scrapped after objections from community members, Supervisor Jim Desmond and Native American tribal leaders that the site was too close to many families. (However, the state has since proposed release of another sexually violent predator, Joseph Cooley, whose crimes include rape of a 12 year old girl, at the same address.
 
District Attorney Summer Stephan has written letters objecting to release of Cooley in Pauma Valley, but has thus far not taken action to try and block release of Bocklett into the Jacumba Hot Springs community.
 
Bocklett was last sentenced in 2000 to 17 years in prison. He was diagnosed with pedophilic disorder and found likely to reoffend, so was confined to a state hospital where he underwent treatment and was recently approved for release into a supervised facility.
 
Supervisor Dianne Jacob has long complained that rural East County including the Jacumba area has been used as a “dumping ground” for violent sexual predators. She has objected to this and wants prisoners housed near Donovan State Prison if they are to be released at all.

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