Santa Cruz County Sheriff Chris Clark is fighting to block the release of a convicted rapist into a wooded residential area near schools and a Girl Scout camp.
Clark, 74-year-old Michael Thomas Cheek could be moved from a locked psychiatric facility to a home on Terrace Grove Road in Los Gatos, an affluent enclave in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The proposed placement faces a judicial hearing later this month before Superior Court Judge Nancy De La Pena at the Santa Cruz County courthouse.
“The concerns are specific and serious. The home is surrounded by dense forest and steep terrain. Schools, a Girl Scout Camp, a church, a public park, and neighborhoods where families live are also nearby,” Clark said, according to KRON 4.
Cheek’s criminal record dates to 1980, when he raped a young woman at gunpoint on Seabright Beach. The following year, after escaping custody in Contra Costa County, he raped a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint. The former Concord resident was subsequently classified as a sexually violent predator.
After decades in prison, Cheek completed a sex offender treatment program at a locked psychiatric facility in 2019. That completion cleared him to pursue supervised housing in the community, though the process has dragged through multiple failed placements.
The Los Gatos address marks the third attempt to house Cheek in Santa Cruz County. Two previous proposals collapsed under public pressure: one at 310 Wild Iris Lane in Bonny Doon and another at 204 Forest Drive in Aptos, near the beach.
Clark has raised practical alarms about law enforcement’s ability to monitor Cheek effectively at the new site. Unreliable cellphone service and spotty GPS coverage could hamper deputies responding to any potential new offense, he warned.
“Narrow roads, abandoned structures, and recreational vehicles in the area could further complicate a search or apprehension,” Clark wrote.
The terrain around 25237 Terrace Grove Road presents what the sheriff frames as uniquely dangerous challenges. Dense forest and steep slopes surround the property, while the surrounding area includes family neighborhoods and gathering places for children.
Judge De La Pena will weigh arguments for and against the placement on Oct. 30. The hearing offers the latest flashpoint in California’s ongoing struggle over where to house sexually violent predators after they complete mandated treatment programs.
Cheek’s case illustrates the tension between legal requirements for supervised release and community safety concerns that surface each time a predator’s housing is proposed near residential areas. The repeated rejections of previous Santa Cruz County sites demonstrate the intensity of local opposition.
Clark’s intervention adds law enforcement muscle to that resistance, with the sheriff emphasizing operational realities rather than emotional appeals. His focus on response times and search difficulties attempts to frame the debate in terms of public safety logistics.
The outcome could influence how future predator placements are evaluated in similarly rugged terrain across California’s coastal mountain communities.
Arguments for and against the Los Gatos placement will be heard on Oct. 30 at the Santa Cruz County courthouse.