Quick Take
After neighbors objected, Michael Cheek, set to be released from a state hospital decades after being convicted of the rape of two young women, won’t be placed in an Aptos home.
A plan to release convicted rapist Michael Cheek from state custody into a supervised home in an Aptos neighborhood has fallen through, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
The proposal to place Cheek in a home on Forest Drive in Aptos, announced Aug. 26, set off a firestorm of objection from public officials and neighbors alike. In a letter sent to the county, Liberty Healthcare Corporation, the state hospital contractor tasked with finding Cheek a home, said the homeowner pulled out of letting Cheek live on her property.
“On Aug. 28, the homeowner contacted Liberty staff requesting to rescind her agreement to rent to Mr. Cheek; subsequently rendering the property unavailable for placement,” a press release from the District Attorney’s Office said, quoting the Liberty letter. “Liberty respectfully requests to withdraw the aforementioned property from consideration by the court.”
Cheek was convicted in 1980 of kidnapping a 21-year-old woman off Seacliff State Beach and raping her at gunpoint. He was convicted of committing an identical crime against a 15-year-old in Lake County after escaping custody a year later.
Cheek has been in custody since 1981, and has spent the past 26 years in a Fresno County state hospital. After decades of treatment, Cheek was cleared for release in 2019, but the state has since failed to find him placement in a community setting. According to the district attorney’s office news release, no other placements are pending court approval, likely sending the issue of Cheek’s release back to square one.
Deputy District Attorney Alexander Byers said his office “was not enamored with the placement.” Byers said even the property owner, identified as Gina Buccieri-Harrington, almost immediately began objecting to the placement after her property was announced on Aug. 26, something Byers said “didn’t make sense.”
“How does Liberty rent [from] a person who has no idea who she is renting to?” Byers said. Maybe she just didn’t want the scorn of her neighbors. That’s a question that is still hanging.”
The sides will still meet in court as scheduled on Sept. 18.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
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