Trial to Decide If San Diego Serial Rapist Can Be Released

A serial rapist set to be released from prison after serving half of a 50-year sentence must stand trial to determine if he is sexually violent predator and should be committed to a state mental hospital, a judge ruled Thursday.

Alvin Ray Quarles, now 51, pleaded guilty in 1989 to being the "Bolder Than Most Rapist" in exchange for the 50-year prison sentence. The moniker stemmed from the way he attacked his victims—at knifepoint, sometimes forcing the women's husbands or boyfriends to watch. In some cases, he forced the men to have sex with the women while he watched. All of his crimes occurred in the San Diego area.

Quarles, then 26, was charged with 61 sex crime counts which, had he been convicted, would have drawn 200-year-plus prison sentence. Instead, he pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, six counts of burglary and two counts of robbery in exchange for a 50-year sentence.

Prosecutors filed a petition to have Quarles civilly committed after finding out from one of his victims that he was scheduled to be released in Nov. 16.

Thursday, two psychologists testified that Quarles—he was not at the probable cause hearing—meets the criteria to be labeled a sexually violent predator, meaning he has previous sex-crime convictions, has a mental disorder and is a risk to re-offend if released.

A status conference was scheduled for Jan. 17.

"First of all, I have to prove that he (Quarles) has the underlying convictions, and that would be the convictions that he suffered way back in the day," said Wendy Patrick, who is prosecuting the civil case for the District Attorney's Office.

"Then we have to prove that he suffers from a diagnosed mental disorder, in other words, he's not just a rapist, that the raping behavior is driven by a mental disorder," the prosecutor said. "And then after that, we have to prove that it really affects his volitional impairment, in other words, the mental disorder is driving the risk that he's going to commit another sexually violent predatory criminal offense."

Two victims came forward when they learned Quarles would be eligible for release on Nov. 16 under a law in force when he pleaded guilty that gave him credit for "good time" served.

Cynthia Medina and Mary Taylor said they were told by prosecutors at the time that Quarles would serve 50 years behind bars and wouldn't be released until he was 77.

"They are very, very brave to have come forward and to make sure that there is some justice in this case," said attorney Gloria Allred, who attended today's hearing with Medina and Taylor, whom she represents.

Medina, 46, said she feels good about what's being done to keep Quarles from being released.

"I just feel really good about it and I'm looking forward to the trial," Medina said. "Hopefully, he'll (Quarles) be brave enough to show his face. It's painful, but I'll get through it."

Taylor, 52, thanked prosecutors in the District Attorney's Office for trying to keep Quarles off the streets.

"It's like a roller coaster," Taylor said. "It's been hard because it's like a box of bad memories has been reopened and so now a lot of things make me think about it, and I worry about things that I maybe hadn't worried about so much anymore. It's just going to crush us if this guy ever does this to anybody else."

—City News Service