A California judge has approved the release of a man known as the "pillowcase rapist," who victimized 38 women over the course of 11 years, NBC Bay Area reported.
Christopher Evans Hubbart, 63, is to be freed from Coalinga State Hospital no later than July 7 and is to live in Palmdale, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said. He is to wear a GPS monitor on his ankle and will be under the supervision of the Liberty Conditional Release Program.
Prosecutors say Hubbart, who was designated a sexually violent predator in 1996, is not mentally fit for release.
"Despite the best efforts by the Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, Judge Brown refused to order Hubbart to undergo a new mental health evaluation to determine his mental state prior to his release," Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said according to CBS Los Angeles. "His last mental health evaluation was fifteen months ago."
Hubbart is to live in his hometown of Palmdale, 60 miles north of Los Angeles. He will be accompanied by a Liberty supervisor every time he goes out in public for the first six months to a year after his release. Hubbart will also attend mandatory individual therapy sessions.
Residents of Palmdale tried to prevent Hubbart's release, with some even driving 350 miles to attend a hearing about his case in Northern California, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Hubbart admitted to raping 38 women from 1971 to 1982. Twenty-six of his victims were from the Los Angeles area. He was known as the "pillowcase rapist" because he covered his victims' mouths with pillowcases to suppress their screams. Authorities believe Hubbart raped nearly 100 women.
Hubbart was granted parole in 1990 after spending 16 years in prison. But he was re-arrested two months later after a new attack. He was released again in 1996, and has remained in the custody of a state-owned mental hospital ever since, the Houston Chronicle reported.
