Inmate Freed, Accused Next Day of Rape

A 31-year-old convicted sex offender has been charged with raping a woman in a Fresno motel less than 12 hours after he left a prison as part of a court-mandated release at penitentiaries throughout California.

The arrest of James Edward Porter confirmed the worst fears of authorities about the state corrections system’s release Wednesday of 93 mentally ill inmates--an estimated half of whom are also sex offenders.

The state said it acted reluctantly in response to an appellate court ruling that California could no longer detain mentally ill prisoners beyond their scheduled release dates.

Fresno police said state parole officials drove Porter to the motel about 3 p.m. Wednesday after his release from Corcoran State Prison, about 50 miles south, and left him alone there wearing only an electronic anklet as a security precaution.

The device--with a 250-foot response radius--was designed to alert officials if Porter tried to leave the motel.

He didn’t have to.

About 3 a.m. Thursday, Porter reportedly raped a 62-year-old woman who was staying several doors down at the motel.

Corrections officials had in the past kept some mentally ill inmates confined beyond their release date by asserting that they needed continued treatment. Porter’s arrest increased criticism of the releases by some Los Angeles-area law enforcement and mental health officials, who said they were not alerted to the fact that former prisoners would be reentering various communities.

“We were left out of the loop,” complained Los Angeles Police Det. Walter DeCuir, who is in charge of the LAPD’s mental evaluation unit. “There are people out there, and we don’t know where they are.”

State officials said 19 of the 93 inmates released since Wednesday came to Los Angeles County, adding that the former prisoners were placed either in board and care homes or locked treatment facilities.

Police said Porter called them from the motel shortly after the incident, saying that he had paid for sex with a woman there but that she was accusing him of rape. He was arrested after officers arrived on the scene and has been charged with one count each of forcible rape, oral copulation and penetration with a foreign object.

“This is the first time the guy was ever in Fresno,” said Fresno Police Det. Leo Martinez. “We don’t even know why somebody decided to bring him here. It’s a mystery to us.”

State corrections officials admitted disappointment Friday.

“We had hoped that we would not have had any kind of serious crime activity, especially so soon,” said Christine May, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections. “But it’s important for the public to realize that we had no choice in releasing these inmates. We did so under court order.

“And we did whatever was in our power to ensure public safety, including electronic monitoring. It’s just a terrible shame that this had to happen.”

67 More Such Inmates to Be Freed

State officials said Friday’s arrest would not affect any future inmate releases, adding that 67 additional mentally ill prisoners will be freed in the coming weeks. The officials said several of those released since Wednesday had exhibited “behavioral problems” and may have their paroles revoked.

According to the July 24 appellate ruling, known as the Whitley decision, California law allows the state to revoke parole if a former prisoner is already in the community and is suffering mental illness without receiving necessary treatment. But the court found that the state could not revoke parole before the inmate had been released.

The Whitley decision involved a 1997 case in Contra Costa County Superior Court in which Barry Whitley, incarcerated for assault and false imprisonment, argued that his parole was unjustly revoked.

Corrections spokeswoman May said the state had no legal obligation to release the ex-inmates’ identities or destinations to the public. She said that was the responsibility of local law enforcement agencies. Under the so-called Megan’s Law, state authorities can notify the public about the whereabouts of sex offenders released from prison.

State officials said they had worked last month to inform law enforcement officials throughout California about the impending arrival of the inmates. But the LAPD’s DeCuir said he learned of the release not from state officials but from news reports.

Told of DeCuir’s criticism, May said she would investigate to see if there had been some oversight that left the LAPD in the dark.

Health care professionals who were alerted to the arrival of the inmates say they also had concerns. One Los Angeles retirement home administrator said she refused the state’s request to send her a dozen inmates because she feared for the safety of her residents.

The administrator at the Golden State Retirement Facility on Lockwood Avenue said the state called her with the request a week ago but would not give her information about the inmates’ backgrounds.

“I told them I had to know their backgrounds or they couldn’t send them,” said the administrator, who declined to give her name. “It’s a danger to the people who live here. They’re all elderly, and we need to protect them. This is their home.”

Porter, a former resident of Merced County, had been serving a 14-year term for robbery and rape and had a prior offense involving sexual battery.

Scheduled for release in November 1997, Porter remained in custody for psychiatric treatment that state officials maintained could not be found outside prison. Officials said they still had concerns about his conduct when they were forced to release him, and fitted him with the electronic leash.

Fresno police say Porter entered the woman’s room at the Flamingo Motel after he found her door ajar.

He is being held without bail at the Fresno County Jail and is facing his third strike, which carries a prison term of 25 years to life.

“I don’t know about my colleagues, but I didn’t know this guy was coming to town,” Fresno Det. Martinez said. “If I did, I think I would have taken some precautions.”

Prisoners Wronged Twice, Activists Say

Mental health advocates say the state has wronged the mentally ill inmates twice--by freeing them prematurely and by not giving them proper psychiatric care while they were in prison.

Lori Myers of Sunnyvale said her 29-year-old brother was released from prison Wednesday against the wishes of his family, who now fear for their lives.

She said her brother, a paranoid schizophrenic, attacked her sister before beginning a four-year prison sentence.

“If he is going to attack his own sister, then what if he comes across some little old lady or a child and he has a similar delusion that led him to his violence?” she asked.

Myers said the family found out about their brother’s release only by accident when his mother called prison officials. “They didn’t have a plan,” she said. “They just told us that he was getting out and there was nothing we could do about it.”

She said her brother was placed in a local lock-down facility only after the family pleaded with state officials in Sacramento.

“We’re afraid,” she said. “His mother is afraid. His sisters are afraid. Why did the state do this? And why didn’t they help my brother when they had the chance?”

Some experts cautioned that not all mentally ill inmates--including those released--are dangerous. “Most mentally ill inmates are not violent,” said Harold Shabo, supervising judge for mental health departments at Los Angeles County Superior Court. “They’re in for petty theft or substance abuse, not sex crimes.”