By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com
A public hearing is scheduled for next month to vet the placement of a seventh "sexually violent predator" in Sacramento County.
The state's Department of Mental Health, which oversees the treatment program for such sex offenders, is proposing to release 61-year-old Steven Joseph Jones into his home county of Sacramento, according to local authorities. If his placement is approved by the Sacramento Superior Court, he will live at a home in the 5000 block of Tyler Street, which was recently vacated by another sexually violent predator, authorities said.
The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. on March 15 before Judge Jack Sapunor in the downtown courthouse. The department has not been determined.
Jones was first convicted of a sexual offense in 1987, when he was sentenced to six years in prison for lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14, said Sacramento County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Jones, who oversees the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement team and sits on the sexually violent predator housing committee.
Steven Jones was out of prison in three years, however, and in 1991 again was convicted of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 - this time four counts, Sgt. Jones said. While in prison, he was determined to have a mental disorder and entered the sexually violent predator treatment program. He has since been treated at state hospitals in Atascadero and Coalinga, Sgt. Jones said.
Sex offenders released after completing the treatment program are typically subject to an extensive amount of conditions, such as GPS monitoring, therapy and prohibited access to the Internet.
The Department of Mental Health provides on-site security at the predator's new home for 24 hours, and then begins scaling back the security, Sgt. Jones said.
After that, Steven Jones would be on the list of people monitored by Sgt. Jones' team.
According to the District Attorney's office, two of the six sexually violent predators living in Sacramento County are under out-patient supervision by the Department of Mental Health. The other four are not under any formal supervision by the department.
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