Judge to reconsider release of 'Pillowcase Rapist'

LAKE LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KABC) -- Prosecutors are trying to revoke the release of the "Pillowcase Rapist," whose residence in Antelope Valley has upset area neighbors.

A judge has 90 days to consider a request to lock up Christopher Hubbart in a state mental hospital. A hearing was scheduled Wednesday, and the judge listened to testimony. Another judge released Hubbart from the hospital last year and approved him to live in a Lake Los Angeles community near Palmdale.

Several of Hubbart's neighbors planned to travel 350 miles to attend the hearing in San Jose. A Los Angeles County prosecutor is expected to testify in favor of revoking Hubbart's release.

Hubbart, 64, is required to wear a monitoring device around his ankle, attend therapy, undergo polygraph exams and submit to random searches of his house. He also lives with an around-the-clock security guard.

Nonetheless, Hubbart's release from the hospital prompted community protests, and local elected officials called for a revocation of his release.

"We're worried about him because he's gotten away from security teams in the past and ran off. We're worried that if he gets away from the security again, he's going to hurt somebody, hurt someone's family," said Mike Main, an area resident. "We feel threatened with him. Even with the security, it's still not enough with him out here."

Main remarked that he hopes a judge revokes Hubbart's release and doesn't just send him to another city.

"Hopefully they revoke it and they send him back to the hospital because we don't even want him to go to another community. We don't want him anywhere because he can hurt somebody in another community as well," Main said.

Local law enforcement officials say they are concerned with public safety. Many of Hubbart's neighbors post angry social media comments about his residency, and protesters turn up nearly every day outside Hubbart's property.

Hubbart has acknowledged raping and assaulting about 40 women between 1971 and 1982. Authorities place the number of victims closer to 100. He used a pillowcase to muffle the screams of some of his victims.

When Hubbart's prison term ended in 1996, he was deemed a sexually violent predator and confined to a state mental hospital.

Doctors at the hospital recently concluded he was fit for release. Hubbart's most recent crimes occurred in Santa Clara County, but the Northern California judge ordered him released to Los Angeles County, where Hubbart was born and raised.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.