A sexually violent predator whose release in Jacumba Hot Springs was halted due to the coronavirus outbreak will be released on or about June 5.
Sheriff’s task force members went door to door in Jacumba Hot Springs and Boulevard on May 27 to inform residents about the conditional release of Michael James Poulsom, 61.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Jay Bloom ordered his release in March, but it was put off due to the unpredictable spread of the coronavirus and the state using its resources in other ways.
The director of the Department of State Hospitals suspended all releases of SVP patients on March 26 due to the coronavirus spread and the March 21 executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom that said government entities must have sufficient staffing to address the impact of COVID-19.
Poulsom remained at Coalinga State Hospital where he has lived in 2011 since his 15-year prison term was deemed served.
Poulsom will wear a GPS monitor on his ankle and has signed 15 pages of release conditions. He will be accompanied by a security guard if he ventures out of the house.
A Jacumba Hot Springs resident, County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, and others protested the release of Poulsom in a March 6 hearing before Bloom.
Bloom said in court he drove out to the site and found the house on Old Highway 80 to be on mostly vacant land for several miles.
The only person who spoke in favor of his release was his attorney.
Poulsom was convicted of molesting girls in 1985, 1989, and again in 1995.
