SF’s most notorious serial groper and harasser is reportedly out of prison and back on SF streets, and was spotted Monday approaching women in the Castro and Dolores Park, often “yelling indecipherably.”
The saga of the seemingly mentally ill serial harasser Bill Gene Hobbs was an all-too frequent recurring theme in San Francisco headlines from 2021 until he was sent to prison in 2023.
We first became aware of his exploits with regards to the stalking of a 15-year-old girl in West Portal, and we also learned that he had a series of other stalking allegations, including that he once stripped naked and chased a jogging woman. A large number of those cases were somehow dismissed, despite that so many of the victims could recall that it was Hobbs with his trademark tattooed fingers that spelled out “E-V-I-L.”
1/ Today, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced an arrest warrant has been issued for Bill Gene Hobbs for a total of 16 counts of felony & misdemeanor charges. He’s wanted in connection to 14 incidents for numerous crimes committed against multiple women. Release: pic.twitter.com/7v0YCUUZIv
— SF DISTRICT ATTORNEY (@SFDAOffice) October 14, 2022
Hobbs was finally arrested in 2022 and found guilty six months later after a dozen women testified against him. Most of the guilty charges were misdemeanor counts of battery, sexual battery, and assault, though one false imprisonment charge (he picked up and carried a woman against her will) merited a three-year sentence in state prison. That sentence was handed down in June 2023.
But now in October 2025, Hobbs is reportedly out of prison and back on SF streets, allegedly up to some of his old tricks.
The Chronicle reports that their reporters saw Hobbs on Monday, once again creeping on random women. That paper reports Hobbs was spotted “from about 2 to 3 pm” Monday, “approaching women in Dolores Park as well as areas of the Castro and Duboce Triangle.” They add that “at other times, he sat on the street curb, yelling indecipherably.”
The Chron adds they also saw him “entering a cafe on Fillmore Street,” where he “spoke feverishly about drug addicts, people following other people and ‘culture’ in San Francisco. Eventually, he got up and disappeared up Fillmore Street.”
That publication was not able to confirm with state officials when Hobbs was released from state prison. (He was in a state facility, not SF County Jail, though Hobbs has done plenty of time at SF County Jail.)
Also per the Chron, Hobbs is not currently on the Megan’s Law website registry, and we didn’t find him listed either. This despite an order that he was to appear on a sex offender registry for ten years. That could be an oversight, or there could be some legitimate legal reasons for Hobbs to not be listed.
So at this point, we can only just warn you that Bill Gene Hobbs is back here in SF, and people, especially women, should be wary of his presence. It does not appear that any of the women he approached Monday went to police or filed any charges. But it may be that we’re going to start seeing more headlines about Hobbs’ conduct around random women he sees again.
Related: Serial Groper Bill Gene Hobbs Sentenced To Five And a Half Years In Prison [SFist]
Image via USF