Lance Purcell, convicted 10 years ago in Hollister, sues San
Benito Jail for his treatment
San Benito’s most notorious convicted child molester is suing
the county over the jail conditions he suffers when he comes to
Hollister for two-week stays during his bi-annual jury reviews.
Lance Purcell, now 58, is best known in the community for his
attempted kidnapping of a 5-year-old girl in front of her
Sunnyslope home in 1993. In 1996, the San Benito County courts
sentenced the Prunedale resident to 10 years in prison, and he has
spent three years of that in the Atascadero State Hospital, a
prison facility for sexual deviants and the criminally insane. In
October he was moved to a state-of-the-art facility in
Coalinga.
Lance Purcell, convicted 10 years ago in Hollister, sues San Benito Jail for his treatment
San Benito’s most notorious convicted child molester is suing the county over the jail conditions he suffers when he comes to Hollister for two-week stays during his bi-annual jury reviews.
Lance Purcell, now 58, is best known in the community for his attempted kidnapping of a 5-year-old girl in front of her Sunnyslope home in 1993. In 1996, the San Benito County courts sentenced the Prunedale resident to 10 years in prison, and he has spent three years of that in the Atascadero State Hospital, a prison facility for sexual deviants and the criminally insane. In October he was moved to a state-of-the-art facility in Coalinga.
Purcell has served his sentence, but because of the Sexually Violent Predators Act of 1996 which keeps such criminals behind bars, Purcell is transferred every two years back to the San Benito County Jail for two weeks while he undergoes a civil jury trial (called a recommitment evaluation) in Hollister to determine if he’s still a career molester. Purcell has had one such “post” jury trial, in 2004, and was summarily declared to still be a sexually violent predator. His first evaluation was handled by court-appointed defense attorney Art Cantu, but it never got to the jury phase. Local defense attorney George Barton was appointed to Purcell’s case in the following evaluation.
While staying in the county jail, Purcell claims he is entitled to better treatment than that endured by the rest of the jail population because, technically, he is a “civil detainee” who has already served his sentence. Acting as his own attorney, Purcell has filed legal briefs with the San Benito courts demanding access to religious services of his choice, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and even the county’s law library at the court house.
“He believes he’s being treated like a career criminal,” said Mike Serverian, the San Jose attorney representing the county. “And he doesn’t want to be shackled when he goes into court because he doesn’t feel he’s a danger to society.”
Purcell filed the federal civil rights complaint against the county – “Sheriff Curtis Hill et al” – in March, and in it he claims that it is because he was kept from mingling with the rest of the inmates he was allegedly subjected to “conditions worse than normally imposed.”
When Purcell stays at the county jail every two years, he is kept in solitary for his own safety, Serverian said. Given the chance, the general population would probably tear him apart, he added.
“He knows he’s a marked man, so his distress is understandable,” Serverian said. “But he can’t mix at all with the inmate population.”
Purcell stated in the complaint: “A leg-restraint device was used during the civil proceeding itself. This device was not only uncomfortable and detracted from plaintiff’s [Purcell’s] ability to testify, it locked the knee, causing plaintiff to walk unnaturally stiff-legged. In the alternative, a shock-vest was offered.”
Purcell also states that he believes he is entitled to “injunctive relief, punitive damages and compensatory damages,” but does not specify any further.
Serverian believes the case will be dismissed, primarily because the federal judge in the case directed the attorney to file a motion for a summary judgment, that is, a dismissal, by late February. To prepare for the motion, Serverian said he must obtain declarations from a platoon of county employees – predominately deputies at the jail – as to what kind of conditions Purcell has been subject to.
The attorney also said San Benito is not like bigger counties, such as Santa Clara and Monterey, which have several jail facilities that accommodate different inmate situations. San Benito is low on resources and has an overcrowded jail as it is.
But Purcell just might get what he wants because of a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. About a year ago the federal appeals court re-examined a case appealed by another sexually violent predator, Oscar Jones, who is making claims similar to Purcell’s over his detainment in Sacramento where he awaited a jury review of his case. Jones’ case had originally been thrown out, but the appeals court ruled Jones had a right to proceed with it. In their ruling the court stated, “… to put it more colorfully, purgatory cannot be worse than hell.”
The ruling emboldened a group of sexually violent predators incarcerated at the Atascadero facility, said Serverian, and a number of them, including Purcell, have filed lawsuits nearly identical to Jones’.
“They’re feeling empowered by the Ninth Circuit decision,” Serverian added.
Purcell had several prior convictions in Santa Cruz County that included rape, assault with a deadly weapon and sexual molestation. He used to wear disguises that included wigs to lure his victims.
In June 7, 1993, Purcell was trolling the San Juan Bautista-Hollister area in a white van looking for unattended children. It was on that day a 5-year-old Hollister child was walking home from a friend’s house when she noticed a white van following her. According to a probation file obtained by The Pinnacle, the little girl was in an alley behind her apartment building on Sunnyslope Road when the driver of the van, Purcell, pulled alongside her and opened the passenger door. He was wearing a curly black wig and sunglasses and his jeans were partially down. Pointing a handgun at the girl, Purcell ordered her to “get in the van” or he would shoot her.
The girl’s father was preparing a barbecue on his balcony when he heard a vehicle back up near the dumpster in the alley. He looked down and saw Purcell, his pants down around his knees, pointing the gun out the door of the van at his child. The father ran down the stairs of the apartment yelling at Purcell, who momentarily pointed the gun at the father. Purcell took off, but not before a neighbor was able to memorize the license plate.
Another witness saw Purcell trying to obscure his license plates with blue tape just hours before the attempted abduction. He had parked the van in front of her home some blocks away. Apparently, he was unsuccessful in the attempt to cover up the license plate.
Hollister police traced the plates to a van at Purcell’s home in Prunedale, and during a search found the handgun and a “big, bad wolf” Halloween disguise kit, replete with curly black wig. They also found blue tape in the house and the van. At the time, Purcell was living with a girlfriend.
District Attorney John Sarsfield said his office would continue to fight Purcell’s release as long as the predator shows no signs of rehabilitation. Serverian also believes Purcell would continue molestation – as he has in the past – if he were let free.
“The interesting part is, we know he’s a career molester,” Serverian said. “The Sexually Violent Predator Act came up years ago in the sentencing scheme to keep SVPs (sexually violent predators) off the streets. So we started having these civil trials.
“There’s almost no way these guys are going to get out,” the attorney added. “The first step is in the (rehabilitation) process is that they have to admit they did something wrong. None of these guys get to step 1.”
Purcell’s evaluation attorney, George Barton, strongly disagrees with Serverian. He says Purcell, nearly 60, is too old to have much of a sex drive which is the basis for his sexual deviance. Barton recently told a newspaper reporter that he would be willing to have Purcell to his home for dinner when and if he gets out. He confirmed the statement to The Pinnacle.
“I don’t feel he’s a danger to society anymore,” Barton said. “I did say that after he’s out I would have him in my home for dinner.”
Barton does not have children but said he has God-children. When asked if he would leave Purcell in a room alone with them, Barton replied, “No, I certainly wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t leave my God-children alone in a room with anyone, I don’t care of it’s you or anyone else.”
The Sexually Violent Predator Act of 1996 says sexual predators cannot be released after serving their sentences unless a jury deems them fit for society. The legislation has been overshadowed by the subsequent three strikes law that guarantees repeat offenders are not allowed back into society, rarely allows for parole nor a jury review every two years.
Purcell is a throwback to the old system, and thereby will be eligible for release every two years. So far, every two years District Attorney John Sarsfield and county prosecutor Candace Hooper have been successful in sending Purcell back to confinement.
Barton says the Sexually Violent Predator Act is a sham based on rehabilitation, and points to a recent study put out by doctors and other high-ranking psychiatrists of the Atascadero State Hospital that claims rehabilitation for sexual molesters does nothing to stop recidivism. He added that the law was politically motivated and enacted to “quiet down the public uproar” over child molestation cases.
“I do not believe in this law,” Barton said. “I think the people are getting hoodwinked by the government on this. A lot have died in Atascadero state prison waiting for their (already earned) freedom. The Constitutionality of this thing has been challenged from every standpoint.
“It’s all for money,” Barton added. “It costs five times as much to keep these guys under lock and key at these state prison hospitals than it does in regular prison.”
Barton says Purcell’s next recommitment evaluation is January 30, where a probable cause hearing – much like a preliminary hearing — will take place in court to determine if the evaluation will then go to a jury in July. Purcell will not be present for the hearing in January. Barton said he’s hoping the jury will let Purcell free this time.
“Lance is very well read and well written,” Barton said. “He’s had a long, long time to think about what he’s done. He’s an old man now and we’re going to keep trying to win the recommitment evaluations.”
