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By Miriam Raftery
Photo courtesy of San Diego Sheriff’s department
Public comments accepted through April 9
March 30, 2021 (El Cajon) – The state has proposed releasing Douglas Badger, a sexually violent predator, into a supervised home at 10957 Horizon Hills Drive. The site is just east of Avocado Avenue in unincorporated El Cajon, near Mt. Helix.
Badger, 78, has been convicted of crimes including kidnapping, forcible oral copulation and child molestation. According to the San Diego District Attorney’s office, his victims were mostly male strangers, including hitchhikers.
He was sentenced to state prison in 1991 and committed to a state hospital in 1997. Badger has been classified as a sexually violent predator likely to reoffend, yet he was granted conditional release; the California Department of State Hospitals has proposed placing him at the Horizon Hills location.
Sarah Thompson, an area resident, voiced outrage over the proposed action in an email to ECM. “We cannot let this happen,” she wrote. “He was diagnosed `as likely to reoffend.’ How could anyone logically think releasing him in a neighborhood with children be a good idea?”
There are two ways for the public to provide input.
Public comments can be emailed through April 9 to sdsafe@sheriff.org or by calling (858)495-3619, or via mail to SVP Release/SAFE Task Force, 9425 Chesapeake Drive, San Diego, CA, 92123.
A public hearing will be held by the San Diego Superior Court on April 20; the hearing will be virtual/online due to the pandemic. To watch the hearing on Zoom:
An earlier proposal to house Badger in Campo was scrapped following a public outcry in the rural community.
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