A California sheriff is opposing a proposal to place a convicted rapist in a taxpayer-funded rental home near a Girl Scout camp.
State officials are considering moving Michael Thomas Cheek, 74, from a secure psychiatric facility to a rental property valued at more than $800,000 in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Chris Clark told News Outlet that the proposed home is near a Girl Scout camp and schools. He also warned that the area’s steep, rugged terrain could slow deputies’ response if Cheek were accused of committing another crime.
“The community for which he’s being considered to be released, it’s a really tight-knit community,” Clark said. “It’s not necessarily the easiest place for us to get to you know if and when something were to happen.”
Michael Thomas Cheek, 74, was convicted of raping two victims at gunpoint, including a 15-year-old girl. State officials are considering placing him in a rental home in the Santa Cruz Mountains. (Paradise Police Department)
Clark said the proposed rental home is within a few miles of a Girl Scout camp and schools, a proximity he described as “obviously concerning.”
The sheriff also questioned whether electronic monitoring would work reliably in the remote mountain community.
“When you talk about our mountain communities, it’s not uncommon that during the winter, you know, these folks lose power. The cell connectivity is extremely poor up there. And so, when you think about monitoring him electronically, how effective are those systems if you have no electricity? And how about if people can’t call for help if they suspect Mr. Cheek is up to something when cell service is poor?”
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A view of a community in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where officials are weighing a proposal to house convicted rapist Michael Thomas Cheek in a rental property near a Girl Scout camp and schools. (Halbergman/Getty Images)
Cheek was convicted in 1980 of raping a young woman at gunpoint. After escaping from the Contra Costa County jail, he raped a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint.
Following his convictions, Cheek was classified as a sexually violent predator.
He completed a sex offender treatment program at a psychiatric facility in 2019. Two earlier efforts to secure his placement in Santa Cruz County had failed.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Chris Clark is opposing a proposal to house convicted rapist Michael Thomas Cheek in a taxpayer-funded rental property located just miles from a Girl Scout camp. (Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office)
“Mr. Cheek has no tie to our county. He’s not from Santa Cruz County. And so his only tie here is that he frankly abducted somebody and raped them. And so he victimized people here. And so to me, it is completely unfair and shouldn’t be the case where a county that somebody’s victimized people is then burdened with the thought of having to house him here in one of the most expensive places frankly in the country to live, which we are,” Clark said of the convicted rapist.
A Superior Court judge is scheduled to hear arguments regarding Cheek’s proposed housing on Oct. 30.
News Outlet contacted Cheek’s attorney for comment.
