A serial harasser of women who was sentenced in 2023 to five and a half years in jail and prison for following, grabbing, groping and chasing his victims has apparently been released – and was seen approaching several women in San Francisco on Monday.
From about 2 to 3 p.m., a Chronicle reporter observed Bill Gene Hobbs, 37, approaching women in Dolores Park as well as areas of the Castro and Duboce Triangle – sliding up next to them on the grass or at cafe tables or crossing the street to talk to them. At other times, he sat on the street curb, yelling indecipherably.
It wasn’t immediately clear when Hobbs was released, or whether his behavior might violate the terms of his sentence, handed down after a jury trial in which at least a dozen women testified to being surprised, grabbed or groped by him while they were walking or running alone in the city.
State corrections officials said Monday they weren’t able to provide information about Hobbs right away. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office said it was unable to comment, noting only that Hobbs was not in local custody. The District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Hobbs, didn’t respond to an inquiry.
It was unclear if the women approached Monday reported the incidents. The police department said that if any reports were made, they were not immediately available.
Law enforcement agencies in San Francisco seemed to ignore Hobbs until the Chronicle began writing about him and how a host of women had come forward to file police reports about their encounters with him. Standing 6-foot-4 with buzzed hair, Hobbs also sported distinctive tattoos, including the letters “E-V-I-L” written across his fingers.
In June 2023, Hobbs was sentenced to two and half years in county jail for eight misdemeanors, as well as three years in state prison for felony false imprisonment for picking up and carrying a woman down the street as she walked her dog. Most people convicted of crimes in California serve 50% of their sentences behind bars.
Hobbs was also ordered to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 10 years. Hobbs was not listed as a sex offender on the state’s public Megan’s Law website as of Monday evening.
On Monday, Hobbs was spotted by a female journalist just before 1 p.m. at the corner of 17th and Church streets, facing Dolores Park. As she and another female journalist visited the area for an unrelated story, Hobbs approached them and yelled at them, one of the women said. She spoke to the Chronicle on the condition of anonymity, saying she feared for her safety.
Bill Gene Hobbs in San Francisco on Monday (S.F. Chronicle)
About an hour later, Hobbs sat shirtless on grass in Dolores Park, tattoos covering his chest. As a woman wearing headphones sat down on the grass not far from him, Hobbs jumped up from his spot and moved over to sit beside her.
The woman, a 33-year-old nurse who also spoke to the Chronicle on the condition of anonymity, said she could not hear what Hobbs was saying.
Though she didn’t recognize him as the man convicted of crimes including battery, sexual battery and assault, she immediately sensed she should leave, she told the Chronicle in a phone interview later in the afternoon.
Many of the women who testified during Hobbs’ trial said he commented on their appearances, touched them, stared at them after they broke free of his grasp or tried to kiss them. Many of the incidents took place in the Marina.
Deputy Public Defender Max Breecker, Hobbs’ attorney, argued during Hobbs’ trial that the women had misidentified Hobbs, despite many of them describing his tattoos.
Breecker told the jury that many of the women had only come forward after reading reports of similar encounters on social media or in “inflammatory” news reports, including in the Chronicle. But he asked the judge to encourage Hobbs to seek mental health treatment and take medication, a sentiment Hobbs angrily rebuked in court.
On Monday, Breecker told the Chronicle he had not kept in contact with Hobbs and knew nothing about his whereabouts.
After sitting in Dolores Park, Hobbs walked down Church Street, eventually crossing Market Street and heading into Duboce Triangle, where he periodically sat down on the curb and yelled out.
Entering a cafe on Fillmore Street, Hobbs ordered a drink, then sat across from a woman at a small outside table. He spoke feverishly about drug addicts, people following other people and “culture” in San Francisco. Eventually, he got up and disappeared up Fillmore Street.
Before Hobbs’ trial in 2023, he faced six criminal cases in San Francisco dating back to 2017. Each one had been dismissed by judges.
In one case in December 2020, he allegedly followed and grabbed a teenager who was walking in West Portal, refusing to let go of the child and telling the teen they were “perfect mates.” The teenager hid in a bookstore and called 911, prompting Hobbs’ arrest.
Superior Court Judge Russell Roeca later dismissed charges of child molestation and battery against Hobbs in that case, and threw out a restraining order that ordered Hobbs to stay away from the teen. Around that same time, other women came forward, including one who said that Hobbs, while naked, had chased her through Glen Canyon.
This article originally published at Convicted serial harasser is back in S.F. after prison stint – and again approaching women.