SLO County DA announces Superior Court’s agreement on Sexually Violent Predator civil petition designation
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced on Thursday that San Luis Obispo County Superior Court granted Dow's petition for the civil commitment of Alfredo Arcilio Mendez as a Sexually Violent Predator.
California's Sexually Violent Predator Law (CASVP Law) allows District Attorneys to petition for the continued detention of a person beyond their parole period when that person has been sentenced to state prison for one or more sexually violent offenses, has been diagnosed with a mental disorder, and poses a present danger to the safety of others because they are likely to engage in acts of sexual violence if released.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office notes that the CASVP Law is a civil law as opposed to criminal. This means the CASVP Law's purpose is community protection by providing treatment and rehabilitation and not additional punishment.
People committed under the CASVP Law are generally confined to a locked hospital setting such as Coalinga State Hospital detail the District Attorney's Office.
Click here for more information about California's Sexually Violent Predator Statute.
“This ruling will ensure that Mr. Mendez is detained in a hospital setting where he does not pose a threat to our community,” said District Attorney Dan Dow. “We are committed to doing everything within our authority to protect the people of San Luis Obispo County from dangerous sexual predators like Mr. Mendez.”
During Mendez's trial, it was proven he had previously been convicted of five sexually violent crimes in San Diego and San Luis Obispo counties.
Those convictions included:
- Forcible Lewd Acts on a Child and Forcible Oral Copulation on a Child (age 6) in San Diego County in 1986
- Forcible Lewd Acts on a Child (age 10), Forcible Lewd Acts on a Child (age 8) and Forcible Lewd Acts on a Child (age 6) in San Luis Obispo County in 1999
Additionally, the Court also heard evidence that while Mendez was working at a child day care facility, he sexually assaulted three female children (all age 7); Mendez was arrested in Long Beach County for Forcible Rape of a Child under 16 in 1985; and that Mendez sexually assaulted a male child (age 3) in 1999-2000.
Two of those nine survivors testified to the Court about their violent assaults.
Four psychologists who evaluated Mendez gave their opinion that he has a diagnosed mental disorder of pedophilia and that he is predisposed to commit sexually violent offenses on children.
Two of the psychologists that assessed Mendez found his mental disorder makes him a substantial and well-founded danger to the safety of others and that it is likely he will engage in predatory sexually violent criminal behavior if released.
Following the finding, San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Timothy Covello signed the order committing Mendez to Coalinga State Hospital as an SVP where his progress will be reviewed bi-annually by the California Department of State Hospitals.
This case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Kimberly R. Dittrich who is assigned to the District Attorney's Office of Sexual Violence Unit. This case was investigated by Grover Beach Police Department and San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office Bureau of Investigation.
A copy of the civil petition can be found here.
