(George Vasquez - California Department of Justice)
An L.A. judge has ordered the release of a child molester who assaulted young boys while he was in his 20s. The judge is letting him out because he maintains that the molester's rights had been violated by numerous delays in bringing the case to trial.
George Vasquez was set to get out of prison about 17 years ago, but L.A. County prosecutors pleaded that the court not free him because he's too dangerous to live in the public.
He needed to be kept in a state hospital so he could be away from society and be treated for his disorder. Vasquez was locked up and waited for a trial to determine if he met the state's definition of a sexually violent predator.
If he did, he would be put in a hospital for two years. Yesterday L.A. Superior Court Judge James Bianco decided that the repeated delays in bringing Vasquez's case to trial violated his constitutional rights, calling it "oppressive to the maximum degree."
Bianco added that since Vasquez was sent to a state hospital, one of the state's two psychologists concluded that he doesn't qualify as a sexually violent predator.
"The end result is a convicted child molester is going to be released. I’m really afraid he will molest again.”