A violent sexual predator is on the verge of being released and could be settling in Los Angeles County.
The proposal to house the man known as the “pillowcase rapist” in the Antelope Valley town of Juniper Hills has prompted calls from Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and District Attorney George Gascón for residents to voice their concerns.
Local officials were notified Tuesday that the Antelope Valley had once again been selected as the home for Christopher Evans Hubbart, who attacked young women in their homes throughout the San Gabriel Valley in 1972 and years later resumed raping in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Gascón, who opposed Hubbart's release, said attorneys from his office would seek to block his internment at Antelope Valley. The decision now rests with Los Angeles Superior Court, which has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 1.
“Continuing to release sexually violent predators into underserved communities like Antelope Valley is irresponsible and unjust,” Gascón said in a statement. “We must demand more from our judicial system, ensuring decisions serve the best interests of our communities while we explore alternative locations for these placements.”
Barger issued a statement Wednesday night opposing the plan.
“We cannot allow our rural communities in the Antelope Valley to become magnets for harboring violent sexual predators,” Barger said. “That is simply unacceptable.”
He cited poor cellphone coverage, inconsistent internet service, outages on landlines and long wait times for law enforcement responses as a “clear recipe for failure.”
A representative from Gascón's office was scheduled to attend a Juniper Hills City Council meeting on Wednesday to explain the conditional release program for sexually violent predators.
Hubbart, known as the “Pillowcase Rapist” for his habit of covering his victims’ heads with pillowcases, was charged in Los Angeles with rape, sodomy and attempted rape, accused of breaking into the homes of 10 women. He pleaded guilty to some of the charges and was sent to a state hospital as a mentally disturbed sex offender.
After his release in 1979, Hubbart moved to the Bay Area and began striking again. Two years later, he was arrested and convicted of rape, robbery and other crimes. He spent nearly eight years behind bars. In all, court documents show, Hubbart admitted to committing at least 44 sexual assaults over 18 years.
Before his release, the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office petitioned a court to have him committed to a state psychiatric hospital under the Sexually Violent Predator Act. The law allows violent sex offenders to be committed to hospitals if they are deemed likely to reoffend. Hubbart was committed to the Department of State Hospitals in 2000, according to Gascón’s statement.
In 2014, then-District Attorney Jackie Lacey opposed his initial commitment to Antelope Valley. After briefly living near Palmdale, Hubbart was returned to Coalinga State Hospital for failing to comply with the terms of his release.
In March 2023, the Santa Clara County Superior Court granted him parole and determined that he should be located in Los Angeles County.
The California Department of State Hospitals notified the Los Angeles County sheriff on Tuesday that it had recommended he be placed in Juniper Hills, a community near Pearblossom in the southern part of the Antelope Valley.
The placement hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Department 113 of the Hollywood Courthouse. Members of the public may attend remotely using this link.
