Parents in Contra Costa County have banded together to oppose the placement of a registered sex offender in their Bay Point neighborhood and to live somewhere else instead.

The group lost a battle to keep a registered sexually violent predator, 69-year-old Charles Christman, from moving into a cottage at Bay Point, but it wants an appeals court to reconsider.

Christman was convicted of committing a lewd act with a boy under the age of 14 in El Cerrito in 1989 and similar crimes from the early'80s.

He spent time in prison and last month a judge ordered him to be released from a state hospital.

The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office asked for an emergency stay to keep Christman from moving to the area but it was denied.

The court said he's no longer a threat.

Willow Cove Elementary School is just down the street and around the corner from his new home, but a judge ruled it's just far enough away to allow Christman into the area.

Parents and children who crowded the corner of Willow Pass and Loftus roads in Bay Point were the opposite of a welcoming party.

Leticia Gomez has two children at Willow Cove.

"We have countless children who walk by themselves every day right past where Mr. Christman is being housed. Every day they pass by here to get to and from school," Gomez said.

KTVU drove from the school to Christman's new home in about a minute.

The school's principal is among those who say that's too close.

"My concerns are the safety of the children who have to walk past here every day," said Lynne Plunkett, Willow Cove Elementary School principal.

"Putting an ankle bracelet on him is not going to ensure the safety of our children," Gomez said. "He can still have access to them. They cross through here every day, day in and day out."

One of the owners of the property said people such as Christman must be given a way to re-enter society if the law allows it.

But neighbors here say they have more than their fair share of sex offenders.