Sexually violent predator lives in tent somewhere in county
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

Sexually violent predator Ross Leo Wollschlager, who was released from a state mental health facility in August, is now living in a tent somewhere in Ventura County, according to Ventura County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Capt. Jerry Hernandez.

By law, a sexually violent predator must reside in the county where his crime was committed, but no hotels would rent to Wollschlager, Hernandez said.

So now Wollschlager is officially listed as a transient with no specific address. "He's in a river bottom living in a tent somewhere. He's living like a transient in the middle of nowhere," Hernandez said. Wollschlager is being monitored closely 24 hours a day, the captain said.

Liberty Healthcare has been contracted to monitor him and make sure he follows the 27 pages of conditions set up by the court, said Nancy Kincaid, Department of Mental Health spokesperson.

Those terms include Wollschlager's wearing an alcohol consumption monitoring bracelet as well as a GPS bracelet that keeps track of his whereabouts and makes sure he's home during his curfew. He'll be required to take polygraph tests. He isn't allowed to live within 2,000 feet of any school or park.

"Sexually violent offenders are more likely to reoffend," Kincaid said.

In 2006, Wollschlager sought a conditional release, and his case went to trial, which lasted three weeks. Two doctors testified on behalf of the Department of Mental Health that Wollschlager wasn't ready for release and continued to pose a threat to others. Three other expert witnesses said because of his age, progress in therapy and record as a model patient, he was ready for release. The jury didn't reach a verdict, a DA's report said.

This year, Superior Court Judge Rebecca Riley decided Wollschlager was ready for a conditional release, but not until suitable housing was found. The Ventura County public defender got Wollschlager's release on appeal before the Second Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal. That court ordered he be released before Aug. 14, a DA's report said. Suitable housing was no longer a condition of his release.

A Ventura County district attorney stated that in 1983, Wollschlager, then 19, was convicted of forcible rape and sentenced to eight years in prison. He'd entered homes through unlocked sliding glass doors, found his victims sleeping and assaulted them. He was paroled in 1987.

Two years later Wollschlager was convicted of forcible child molestation and two counts of residential burglary. He violently attacked the children after again entering homes at night through unlocked doors.

The crimes occurred in Ventura. Wollschlager was sentenced to 13 years, four months in prison.

He was placed in a state Department of Mental Health facility after a court determined he had a mental disorder that made him a danger to himself and others, the DA's report said.

The district attorney's office, the sheriff's department and the state Department of Mental Health fought to keep Wollschlager from being released. Two court rulings decided he could be released even though the court was told no place could be found for him to live.

Wollschlager is one of seven sexually violent predators released in the state, Kincaid said.

Two of the others are in the process of having their releases revoked and being returned to custody, she said.

About 1,100 sexual predators reside in the county, but only Wollschlager is sexually violent, Chief Dep. Bruce McDowell said.

For information on Wollschlager, go to www.meganslaw.ca.gov. After acknowledging a disclaimer that includes not using any information on the site to commit a crime, one may access other details about him.