Sexual Predator Verse Moved To Oakland

Cary Verse, the convicted sexual predator whose release in Mill Valley created a public outcry, has moved to Oakland, police officials announced Friday.

In a short release, Oakland police said that state officials had offered no explanation why the East Bay city was selected as Verse's new home. Both the state Department of Mental Health and Liberty Healthcare Corp. said they were prevented from commenting on the move by a recent gag order issued by a Contra Costa County judge.

Video On Demand: Sex Offender Verse Relocates To Oakland

"This placement of Mr. Verse in Oakland is troubling," said Oakland Police Chief Richard Word. "Why Oakland? We feel more parole officers should be assigned to Oakland -- not high-risk sex offenders. Mr. Verse should be placed in the county of his last commitment -- Contra Costa not Alameda. This is appalling!"

Word said the city's law enforcement officers were already stretched thin because of Oakland's high homicide rate.

"We already lack the resources to monitor high-risk sex offenders who are rightly placed in Oakland," the chief said. "Oakland does not need more."

Verse is the 30th high risk sex offender released in Alameda of which 18 live in Oakland. He is the state's second sexually violent predator deemed fit for release and was taken away late Wednesday from the Fireside Motel, in unincorporated Mill Valley.

Liberty Healthcare Corp., the state-contracted agency monitoring Verse's release placed him at the motel on Feb. 5 and paid $495 for a week's stay.

His presence there created a furor in the community after the sheriff's department, irritated that he had been dumped in the county without prior notice, issued a press release telling where Verse was staying.

Verse, who must reside within the state, will have to register with local authorities within 24 hours of arriving in his new location.

A self-described devout Jehovah's Witness, Verse is a four-time convicted sexual offender with a history of sexual violence that dates to age 17. His most recent prison stint stemmed from the 1992 sexual assault of a man at a homeless shelter near Richmond.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and paroled in 1998. He was sent to Atascadero State Hospital under a 1995 state law that allows the state to continue holding sexually violent predators past their prison release dates by designating them mental patients in need of rehabilitation.

Verse won consistent praise for his progress in therapy and agreed to undergo chemical castration.