Contact Unit/Address Contact Name/Phone
Sex Offender Commitment Program
1600 9th Street, RM 250
Sacramento, CA 95814 Brenda Epperly-Ellis
916-653-1843

John Lofton talked to her on nov 19 and she responded by letter.

nov 19, "I am currently a patient being detained here at C.S.H. I have a very important question I wish to have answered concerning our unlawful detainment here. This issue should be made known to the public so they will know the truth about what types of people are brought here under the: Sexually Violent Predator Act. My question is, of the specific types of people that are detained here under the S.V.P.A. since 1996, its year of enactment, the media for the last 10 years has shown that gang members with sex crimes, but there are not any of these individuals at Coalinga State Hospital! Why?

We know that gang members have a considerable amount of sex offenses. What this boils down to is that we know for a fact that these types of individuals who have sex offense convications are being specifically excluded from the S.V.P.A. We believe that this is partially due to the administration not wanting to deal with the problems that would derive from having these types of sex offender/gang members housed here. For example, fighting, assaults on staff, assaults on other patients whose crimes were against children. We know for a fact that the administration does not want to deal with that kind of aggressive environment.

As a result, these individuals who are deemed aggressive and pose a threat to the hospital are then "Skipped" and therefore released from prison on parole. For the rest of the individuals who are not sent here, we believe it is due to their status and having ties with someone who is working within the Cal Dept of Corrections and Rehabilitation and/or the dep of mental health. This illegal process of seinding some infidivuals to the hospital and releasing others, constitutionally violates our rights to the equal protection clause of the us constitituion, as it is not fair that some sex offenders are forced to be confined in a hospital aand other sex offenders are released just because of their notoriety, fame, forturne, affiliation, etc. Could you please explain to me how and why this is occurring.

"dear mr. lauglin i am rwriting to you in regards to the question we discussed by telephone regarding gang members in the sex offender dcommittment program.


I have checked with both our legal dept and our experienced evaluators to provide a response to your concern.

There are no statutues that protect gang members from a sexuallly violent predator committment. Gang affilitation is considered in the evaluation because it is a significant risk factor for sexual reoffense. The sex offenses of gang members are one of many types of criminal offenses they commit.

"Gang members often commit a rape in concert and it is motivated by violence, not by deviance."

Generally, this is not due to a mental disorder and they stop doing those types of offenses as they get older.