The court hearing on whether convicted rapist Michael Cheek can be released to a home in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Los Gatos won't happen Friday after all. It has been postponed to Jan. 22, 2027, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office said Thursday, according to KSBW.
Why it was delayed
The court needs more time to decide whether the proposed address on Terrace Grove Road, which is in Los Gatos but inside Santa Cruz County, meets placement rules because it is close to a home school, the Sheriff's Office said. The California Court of Appeal's Sixth District has already weighed in on a similar issue, the Los Gatan reported. It overturned a lower-court ruling that a home school set up during the effort to keep Cheek out of Bonny Doon couldn't count as a factor.
A packed town hall
The delay came after a Tuesday town hall at Loma Prieta Elementary School. Residents there raised worries about how isolated the site is, its spotty cell service and how close it is to children. Sheriff Chris Clark opposes the placement. "Our opposition to the proposed placement of Michael Cheek remains firm, and our commitment to this community is unwavering," Clark said in a statement quoted by KSBW.
Background
Cheek was convicted of kidnapping, rape and forcible oral copulation in 1980. He escaped and committed another rape in 1981, of a 15-year-old, the Los Gatan reported. KSBW says he is now in his 70s and still under supervision at the state hospital in Coalinga. Under California law, someone designated a sexually violent predator can be conditionally released under Department of State Hospitals supervision if a court finds the public can be protected. The Sheriff's Office said the District Attorney's Office will keep reviewing letters the public has already sent in.