CLAREMONT : 250 Protest Possible Release of Serial Rapist

More than 250 city leaders and residents rallied in front of City Hall on Tuesday evening to decry the possible release of a serial rapist into the college community.

The Department of Corrections plans to release Christopher Evans Hubbart on parole if he passes a psychological examination.

“They can’t release him if they are afraid for his safety. It would be unsafe to release him,” said Kathleen Ordway, a 12-year resident, as she distributed papers divulging what she said was Hubbard’s possible address.

City officials were notified last week that a serial rapist would be released into the community this week.

In 1973, Hubbard was placed in a state mental hospital for seven years in relation to as many as 20 rapes in Los Angeles County, state officials said. According to papers distributed at the rally, Hubbart is believed to have raped as many as 50 women over a period of 20 or more years.

In 1982, he was convicted of rape with force, oral copulation and five counts of burglary in Santa Clara County and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The next year he was convicted of a 1972 rape in Los Angeles County and sentenced to nine years, which he served concurrently.

Paroled in April, 1990, Hubbart was back in prison within four months on a new conviction and was sentenced to five years for falsely imprisoning a woman. He was paroled in January, but his parole agent decided to return him to custody after two months out of concern for his mental condition, corrections officials said.