Convicted sex offender nabbed after boy found with him in car By Bruce Gerstman - MediaNews STAFF Article Last Updated:11/21/2006 07:10:03 AM PST
CARY VERSE, a convicted sex offender, has been arrested on suspicion of violating the conditions of his release. Since leaving jail, Verse has become a Jehovah's Witness who attends Bible studies classes. (MEDIANEWS FILE) WALNUT CREEK — Police took convicted sex offender Cary Verse into custody on suspicion of violating a condition of his release into the community, authorities reported Monday. Walnut Creek police stopped Verse, 36, at 1:10 p.m. Saturday in connection with a mechanical violation on his car and found he was driving with a 14-year-old male passenger, police Lt. Tim Schultz said in a press release.
As one of the conditions of his 2004 release from Atascadero State Mental Hospital, Verse is not allowed to drive with any male passenger without authorization from Liberty Behavioral Health Corp., which contracts with the county to supervise him.
When officers realized Verse's identity, they contacted the state Department of Mental Health, which recommended Verse be taken into custody, the press release said.
A spokeswoman for state mental health department said Monday her agency will move to send Verse back to the state hospital, where he had completed a treatment program for sexually violent predators.
Verse declined an interview.
Sources close to the case said the teenager's parents had authorized Verse to drive their son.
Mental health officials say Verse has cooperated with the terms of his conditional release until now.
Verse did not break a law, Contra Costa sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said. However, he violated a condition of his release and is being held in county jail while the mental health department reviews his case.
Mental health department spokeswoman Kirsten Macintyre said no allegations of impropriety preceded Verse's arrest.
But, she added, "The boy's presence in the car was enough to cause concern in our eyes. It's the responsibility of the department to make sure that he doesn't reoffend and that we prevent problems in the future."
Verse was convicted four times of assaulting four males from 1988 to 1992. He assaulted a 14-year-old when he was 17, a 17-year-old when he was 18, a 14-year-old when he was 19 and a 23-year-old when he was 21.
When he was paroled from prison after his last conviction, a judge placed him in a special program for sexually violent predators in Atascadero state hospital on the recommendation of the mental health department.
Verse underwent therapy and received medical aimed at allowing him to rejoin the community.
The conditions under which he was released from the hospital were that he may leave his home for work and to see friends and therapists, but only during authorized times and in the company of authorized people. He is chemically castrated and must carry a GPS tracking device.
With his arrest, the state Department of Mental Health is trying to remove him from the conditional release program in Contra Costa County.
"We think he should go back for more treatment in a structured setting," Macintyre said.
Verse has lived on the Bay Point property of two defense attorneys since February 2005, after a search for living quarters that spanned several months.
Verse's landlord, Anthony Ashe, said he stands by Verse and called him an excellent tenant.
"He is a friend of mine," Ashe said. "He has been perfect in every way."
Deputy public defender Ron Boyer said a judge's decision to send his client back to the hospital would surprise him.
"The consequence of any rule violation certainly would have to be weighed with the whole picture," Boyer said. "It's not like every rule violation deserves the most severe consequences."
Deputy district attorney Brian Haynes originally agreed with Superior Court Judge John Minney's 2005 ruling to release Verse to Bay Point. Haynes was not available Monday for comment.
Verse can be held in jail for 15 days before a judge decides whether to place him back into the community, or back to the state hospital.
He is one of seven sexually violent predators released from the program since its beginning in 1995. Since then, one man has been unconditionally released from the program and another has been sent back to the state hospital.
Reach Bruce Gerstman at 925-952-2670 or [email protected].