THE REGION : Serial Rapist to Be Kept in Prison Another Year

Serial rapist Christopher Hubbart had his scheduled release on parole revoked on Tuesday for 12 months on psychiatric grounds, state officials said.

Board of Prison Terms spokeswoman Elizabeth Tanaka said that Hubbart, on the advice of his attorney, declined to be interviewed at his Tuesday hearing. The decision to revoke his parole, she said, was based largely on documents in Hubbart’s file, as well as discussions with doctors.

Last March, Hubbart, 44, failed a psychiatric exam on the morning of his scheduled release and was returned to prison for a year of psychiatric care. Since that event, last-minute psychiatric examinations have kept six other high-profile sex offenders from parole in Southern California. Under the state’s determinate sentencing law, rapists and other felons are released on set dates unless they fail such psychiatric exams.

Hubbart has been in and out of prison since 1973 for 34 rapes and other crimes in California. Last year, his pending release was met by fierce protest in Claremont, where he was scheduled for release to his parents’ house.

In January, 1996, Hubbart’s three-year parole period expires and he must be released without supervision, regardless of his mental state.