A judge has delayed a decision to release a man convicted of sexually assaulting several children in the 1980s back into the San Diego community during a hearing Friday morning.
In the 1980s, when Robert Nabors was just five years old, he was sexually assaulted by his older cousin, Alan Earl James.
“I was the first one it happened to and then, of course, it happened to my siblings. He roped my siblings into it,” said Nabors.
Nabors said he was sexually assaulted twice.
“(James) threatened if you tell, he’ll kill you, or, you know, you’ll get in trouble or something. You don’t know what to do at 11 years old,” Nabors told NBC 7.
James was convicted of charges of rape, child molestation, and kidnapping in the 1980s. He served time in prison before being released. James then raped two girls and was sent back to prison.
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Decades later, Nabors received a letter in the mail saying James was about to be released again.
“He’s been locked up for the past 30 years,” Nabors said. “Now they want to let him out again – no, that should set off some alarms.”
James is currently in a state prison hospital, but the judge said he has met the conditions for release. James’ release will now be decided after hearing testimony from victims and members of the community, according to the Judge.
Nabors, who lives on the East Coast, flew out to San Diego with his sister to fight James’ release.
“I flew 3,000 miles to ensure this guy is going to stay behind bars,” Nabors told NBC 7. “He deserves to stay locked up. Simple as that.”
Now in San Diego, Nabors has the help of Your Voice Has Power, a local group that fights against the release of sexually violent predators into the county.
“We’re hoping to reverse or change the judge’s mind about releasing him,” said Terri Larson, director of Your Voice Has Power.
If released, James would live in the Jacumba Hot Springs area -- a place another convicted predator may end up.
The fate of Alvin Quarles, known as the “Bolder Than Most Rapist,” is still undecided as a judge stayed his release in early Mach after much back-and-forth about this possibility, initially being up for parole in 2014.
Other convicted predators released into the Jacumba Hot Springs area include Herman Joseph Smith, Ural Davis, Michael Joseph Martinez, Allen Fields, and Mikel Wayne Marshall.
If James is released, he will be the 10th sexually violent predator to be placed in the East County.
County Board of Supervisor Dianne Jacob argued against James’ release to the East County, a place she said has become a dumping ground for sexually violent predators.
“No one in any community, anywhere, anytime wants any of these worst-of-the-worst in their communities,” Jacob said.
Jacob has sent a letter to the state attorney general, urging him to investigate the placement of sexual predators into the East County.
In the letter, Jacob outlined where the predators live, saying a majority of them are placed in Eastern San Diego County.
"According to a recent media report, the ratio of residents to all registered sex offenders in San Diego county is 961 to 1, but the ratio in Jacumba Hot Springs, the community where the 2 most recent SVPs are being proposed, is 37 to 1," Jacob said in the letter.
The supervisor added that she believes the safety of residents in the East County is "further jeopardized by the lack of nearby social, health and law enforcement services that are required for the conditional release program."
Five of the 12 sexually violent predators released into San Diego County over the past 15 years violated their conditions of release, and four were sent back to a state mental institution, Jacob said.
“These guys are going to offend again, and it's our families that are going to be at risk,” Larson said. She added that James and Quarles would still pose as a threat even though “it happened in the 80s.”
Nabors will stand side by side with members of Your Voice Has Power, as well as other victims of James’ attacks, as they fight James’ release Friday.
“The justice system is letting me down,” Nabors. "If nothing’s said, nothing gets done, so if we speak out and let them know these people need to be locked up than something gets done.”
While the plans to release James and Quarles remain on hold, Nabors and Your Voice Has Power will continue to fight.