Stanislaus sheriff turns to Instagram to oppose sexually violent predator release in Turlock

By Mike TeSelle

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    STANISLAUS COUNTY, California (KCRA) — The Stanislaus County Sheriff turned to social media to urge opposition to the release of a sexually violent predator into a community near Turlock.

On Monday, the case of Kevin Gray returned to the courtroom.

“I want to take this opportunity to give you an update on the potential release of the sexually violent predator, Kevin Gray,” began the Instagram post from Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse.

Stanislaus County prosecutors were in court Monday morning for a revocation hearing aimed at preventing the release of Gray. However, the judge continued the case for further proceedings to July 22 at 8:30 a.m.

Gray served prison time for sex crimes against minors before being committed to a state hospital, where he is set to be released, Dirkse said.

“Essentially, the question is, has he been rehabilitated or not? It is clearly my position as the sheriff and of our district attorney that he has not been rehabilitated and should not be released in our community,” Dirkse said.

A group of more than a dozen concerned community members, such as Jack Griffith, stood outside the courtroom holding signs protesting the impending release of Gray and advocating for a better way to deal with predators who may re-offend.

“I understand people serving sentences, but when a doctor says he will offend … We need to keep them out of all our communities,” Griffith said.

During Monday’s court proceeding, the judge took issue with the leak of the potential address where Gray would be released. She called that a violation of a court order, although it was not clear who shared the privileged information.

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