By Miriam Raftery
March 18, 2018 (Boulevard) – On Friday, Judge David Gill approved placement of Michael Joseph Martinez at 2135 McCain Valley Road in Boulevard, a small town in San Diego's East County, starting in late April. Martinez has been in state mental hospital since 2009 but was approved last year for release. He was committed as a sexually violent predator and has been diagnosed with a pedophilia and personality disorder.
Martinez was convicted in four separate cases of crimes including child molestation, annoying/molesting a child, lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, and annoying a child under 18, according to the District Attorney's office. His crimes occurred in both San Diego and Los Angeles County; his last conviction was in 2004, when he was sentenced to four years in prison. Prior to his release, the San Diego County District Attorney’s office petitioned for him to be civilly committed to the state mental hospital at Coalinga as a sexually violent predator.
On October 26, 2017, Superior Court Judge Lisa Schall recommended Martinez for CON-REP and ordered Liberty Healthcare (LHC), a private entity contracted by DMH, to propose a program and location for Martinez’ release. Judge Gill issued his approval of the Boulevard location on March 16.
Supervisor Dianne Jacob testified against releasing Martinez in rural East County. On Facebook, she posted on Friday, “A state judge this morning approved the placement of another sexually violent predator in rural East County, despite heartbreaking testimony from the mother of one of his victims. Any legal system that would allow this is badly broken. As I told the judge and the media, serial pedophiles like Michael Joseph Martinez don't belong out in the community, period.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the property where Martinez will be placed is on 40 acres surrounded by locked fences; he will also be tracked with GPS monitoring. It is near a federal recreation area in McCain Valley that includes campgrounds and the gateway to multilpe federal wilderness areas.