Now authorities are trying to keep him behind bars. The California Department of Mental Health has determined that England is fit for release.
"My office has been denied legal avenue to take England to court to challenge this evaluation," said Rackauckas.
Rackauckas could not stop the release order, but last-minute federal charges filed by prosecutors succeeded.
The new charges caught everyone by surprise. Prosecutors say that if they are successful, it should be enough to keep England behind bars for the rest of his life.
England, 65, was scheduled to be released from a California prison Friday. He was convicted in 1977 for sexually assaulting three girls. He then fled the state and was on the run and living under the alias Stephen Arthur Seagoe for 29 years before authorities finally caught up with him.
"I would have friends over and they would spend the night, and when we were all asleep, he would molest them thinking that they were asleep, and he would fondle them. He would fondle their breasts and their lower areas," described Jackie Zudis, England's adoptive daughter.
Zudis claims she was sold to him in Vietnam by her own mother said she was sexually assaulted by England for years.
"The first time he attempted to have intercourse with me, he chased me around with a hypodermic needle, trying to inject me with something. Once he did that, I don't remember what happened after that," she said.
Zudis was worried that England would strike again if he was released from prison.
Though it's not yet clear what federal charges England will face, it is known that he was in possession of pornography. Also, the DA said that the Man Act may come into play, which involves smuggling people across state lines.
Federal authorities will use these two factors to keep England in prison for life.
