A man who has been legally designated as a sexually violent predator removed his GPS device and went missing in Rancho Bernardo overnight \u2014 the first time an SVP in the county has done so \u2014 authorities said Friday.<\/p>\n
About 3:30 a.m. Friday, Merle Wakefield\u2019s device alerted to \u201ctamper mode\u201d while he was at work at a warehouse, sheriff\u2019s Lt. Aloha Peters said. Peters said in a news release that by the time someone arrived from Liberty Healthcare, the company contracted to supervise Wakefield, his GPS had been removed and the 69-year-old was gone.<\/p>\n
Liberty Healthcare notified both San Diego police and the Sheriff\u2019s Office. Sheriff\u2019s officials advised the public not to approach or make contact with Wakefield but call 911 or local police.<\/p>\n
Authorities did not say what time the Liberty Healthcare staffer arrived to find Wakefield missing. The Department of State Hospitals, which hired Liberty Healthcare to oversee the conditional release program, said Friday privacy laws prevent it from commenting on current or former patients. In general, it said, people in the program are GPS-monitored in real time. Liberty Healthcare could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.<\/p>\n
Wakefield was convicted in 1981 of committing lewd acts with a minor under 14, then convicted in 1990 of rape by means of force, violence or fear, according to the District Attorney\u2019s Office. Following his release from prison in 1998, he was formally designated a sexually violent predator and committed to the Department of State Hospitals for treatment.<\/p>\n
Sexually violent predators, or SVPs, have been convicted of a violent sex crime and diagnosed with a mental condition that makes them likely to re-offend. It\u2019s a relatively small group \u2014 less than 1% of the state\u2019s sexual offender population \u2014 and they are court-ordered to live in a state hospital after they serve their prison sentence. At the hospital, they can choose to take part in a treatment program that could lead to eventual conditional release in the community under tight restrictions.<\/p>\n
Wakefield was undergoing treatment at a state hospital when he successfully petitioned to be a part of the Conditional Release Program.<\/p>\n
Finding housing for people designated as sexually violent predators is notoriously difficult, and people are generally placed back in the county where they committed their offenses.<\/p>\n
When Wakefield won his bid for release<\/a> in late 2024, no housing could be found. He was initially ordered to be released as a transient but with round-the-clock, in-person supervision. However, by the time he was released from the hospital the following month, authorities were able to place him in a home in Jacumba Hot Springs<\/a>. Most recently, Peters said, Wakefield has been living in Campo, but it was not immediately clear how long he has been living there.<\/p>\n