A man who was convicted of forcible rape and other sex crimes in 1993 and designated as a violent predator will be placed at a home in Jacumba Hot Springs.
A San Diego judge made the ruling in the case of 71 year old Herman Smith. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was committed to the Department of State Hospitals to undergo treatment. He petitioned for release through the Conditional Release Program for sex offenders and, after a trial, San Diego Judge Howard Shore agreed to order him placed at a home in Jacumba Hot Springs.
According to a report in the San Diego Union Tribune, the number of "sexually violent predators" in the state make up less than one percent of the state’s registered sex offender population. The San Diego County District Attorney's website, the county is home to four other sexually violent predators all living in the back country communities of the county. Here is information from the D-A about Herman Smith.
(Photo from San Diego District Attorney's Office)