Bay Area's Infamous Pillow Case Rapist To Be Set Free

LOS GATOS, CA — The Pillowcase Rapist, the infamous serial rapist who terrorized the Bay Area, will be released from custody into Los Angeles County, authorities announced Wednesday.

The pending release of Christopher Hubbart, who earned his moniker by holding pillowcases over the faces of his dozens of victims to muffle their screams, has set off an uproar in Los Angeles County.

A Santa Clara County Superior Court ultimately granted the conditional release of Hubbart to Los Angeles against the objections of prosecutors and police in Southern California. The Department of State Hospitals has proposed housing him in a remote community near Devil's Punchbowl southeast of Palmdale, CBS News reported.

In 1973, 1982 and 1990, Hubbart, also known as the “Pillowcase Rapist,” was convicted in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties for a series of rapes and other sex crimes.

Hubbart was sent to Atascadero State Hospital in 1972 after the court deemed him a "mentally disordered sex offender." Seven years later, doctors said he posed no threat and released him.

Over the next two years, he raped another 15 women in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to court documents. Hubbart was again imprisoned, then paroled in 1990.

After accosting a woman in Santa Clara County, he was sent back to prison and then to Coalinga State Hospital.

Prior to his release, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office sought his civil commitment as a “Sexually Violent Predator” under the Sexually Violent Predator Act, resulting in his commitment to the Department of State Hospitals in 2000.

Hubbart was designated a sexually violent predator in Santa Clara County in 1996. His lawyers argued in 2014 that Hubbart's continuing detention violated his rights to due process, sparking a battle over where he should live.

LA County fought his placement in Palmdale a decade ago — ultimately leading to his parole being revoked in 2017.

Hubbart was released from Coalinga State Hospital in July 2014 and was assigned by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Gilbert Brown to live at a Palmdale-area home in the 20300 block of East Avenue R, despite outcry from residents and area elected officials.

As a condition of his release, Hubbart was required to wear an ankle monitor, attend regular therapy sessions and make quarterly reports to a judge. He was monitored by security guards working for a state contractor, who were said to maintain a 24-hour watch.

Residents of the area where Hubbart was sent to live vehemently opposed the decision, as did then-Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represented the area.

In 2017, his parole was revoked because he was caught making falsehoods during lie detection tests. However, the judge who revoked is parole in Santa Clara County had harsh words at the time for authorities in Los Angeles.

While giving LA County officials what they wanted, the judge criticized what he called the "reprehensible" actions of Los Angeles County's District Attorney's Office and Sheriff's Department.

However, in a lengthy footnote to his seven-page ruling, Loftus wrote: "The actions of the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office were, in this court's view, reprehensible."

In the footnote, the judge said the sheriff was "less than cooperative with the outpatient team, hampering success of the placement" of Hubbart in the county.

Once again, Los Angeles County leaders have made it clear they believe Hubbart is a threat to the community.

“Continuing to release sexually violent predators into underserved communities like the Antelope Valley is both irresponsible and unjust,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón “Repeatedly placing these individuals in the same community shows a blatant disregard for the safety and well-being of our residents. Our deputy district attorneys will persist in opposing Mr. Hubbart’s placement in the Antelope Valley. We must demand more from our judicial system, ensuring decisions serve the best interests of our communities while exploring alternative locations for these placements.”

Members of the public who wish to observe the placement hearing Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m. , may attend remotely using the following link: https://lacvirtualcourts.webex.com/meet/SVP

City News Service contributed to this report.