Impasse Moves a Rapist Closer to His Freedom

After months of unsuccessful efforts to arrange the supervised release of a notorious sex offender, frustrated officials now may face an unwelcome outcome: Patrick Ghilotti soon could reenter society with few, if any, restrictions.

Earlier this month, the 45-year-old sexual predator refused to sign a court-ordered outpatient treatment plan, saying a ban on using the Internet and limited visitation rights to see his wife was too harsh.

On Dec. 1, Ghilotti is set to become the first inmate released under a program designed to crack down on repeat sex offenders. Created in 1996 through the state’s violent sexual predator law, the regimen requires the most dangerous sex offenders--those convicted of two or more attacks--to receive at least two years of medical treatment at a state hospital after serving their original sentence.

At least six psychologists have testified that Ghilotti is ready for community release after four years at Atascadero State Hospital along California’s Central Coast. Convicted of raping four Marin County women, Ghilotti has admitted raping six others and has spent two decades behind bars.

But Ghilotti’s defense attorney criticized the outpatient release plan by the state Department of Mental Health. Although he said Ghilotti did not object to being fitted with a global positioning device so police could track his every move, or routine blood and urine tests, he did object to other restrictions, including a 12-hour daily curfew that would keep him indoors from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

After weeks of searching for housing for Ghilotti in Marin County, officials finally located a space on private property where the offender would live alone away from a typical group-home setting.

Marin County Deputy Public Defender Ed Farrell blamed the impasse on the state’s inflexibility. He said Ghilotti planned to seek employment in the computer field and called the no-Internet clause to his release impossible to accept. And while Ghilotti could regularly see his wife while incarcerated, there was no guarantee that would continue after he was freed.

“The state came up with an extraordinarily rigid and restrictive set of terms and conditions that would be difficult for anyone to face. I’d never seen anything like it,” Farrell said. “Now everything is up in the air. I wish and Mr. Ghilotti wish they had been more flexible.”

Ghilotti is being examined by two state psychologists to determine whether he remains a threat to society. If both clinicians reach that conclusion, prosecutors can request a court hearing that could send Ghilotti back to Atascadero for another two years.

If no consensus is reached, Ghilotti can leave the hospital a free man as early as Dec. 1.

Marin County prosecutors have sent a letter to state officials urging them to complete their reports soon. “If the doctors find that Ghilotti is still a danger to others, we will pursue the matter to keep him behind bars,” said Assistant Dist. Atty. Ed Berberian. “But we can’t pursue the matter until we know what the doctors say.”

In a telephone interview, Ghilotti said he had no problem wearing a tracking device or taking drugs to control his sex drive. “No matter what the terms are when I walk out of this hospital, I’m still trying to get hooked up with a tracking device so they know where I’m at, so I can work with them instead of them being afraid of me,” he said.

Ghilotti said he does not blame state officials for their hard-line approach to his release. “This is a real new law and I was the first one coming up for release, and people were not prepared,” he said. “But I don’t really fault anybody. They wanted to be sure. All of the men in this program have offended before and created victims. They want to protect themselves from us.”

But Ghilotti acknowledged that he soon could walk out of Atascadero State Hospital with only the federal requirement that he register as a sex offender with local law enforcement authorities. Registration requires police to notify residents wherever Ghilotti settles that a sex offender lives among them.

“Sure that’s possible,” he said. “And I’m prepared to leave here without the state’s help. But I’d rather have it.”

Nora Romero, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Mental Health, said officials are hoping to keep Ghilotti behind bars. “Our worst fear is that he would be released,” she said. “We still consider him a high-risk individual.”

Meanwhile, Ghilotti waits for the day when he can return to society after nearly 20 years. “My understanding is that I’m going to leave this place come Dec. 1,” he said. “I’m ready.”