BONNY DOON, Calif. (KRON) — A convicted rapist and sexually violent predator is slated to be released back into society.
Michael Cheek, 69, of Concord, was convicted of abducting and raping a 21-year-old-woman in 1980 who he met at Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz.
In 1981, Cheek escaped from custody in Contra Costa County and raped a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint.
Cheek has completed serving his prison sentence, which included several years at Atascadero State Hospital.
Prison officials recently notified the Santa Cruz County District Attorney, sheriff, and county supervisors that they plan to have Cheek live at 310 Wild Iris Lane in Bonny Doon.
The two-story house is far up in the Santa Cruz mountains. Locals call Wild Iris Lane a “slice of heaven.” Families who live there enjoy the peace and serenity of living in a redwood tree forest.
Joe Brennan and his six children live across the street from 310 Wild Iris Lane.
His 14-year-old daughter walks to her school bus stop every day past 310. She’s one of several teenage girls who live on the street.
The possibility of a rapist moving in is a “nightmare,” Brennan said.
“We have six kids. And they want to put a rapist next door,” Brennan said.
The question of where a sexually violent predator, “SVP,” will live is never an easy one to answer for state prison officials.
Cheek will be required to wear an ankle monitor that is supposed to give law enforcement his precise location at all times.
Wild Iris Lane is in a remote area where cellphone service is spotty. Emergency communications in the Santa Cruz mountains can be difficult. During an ambush last summer when one deputy was shot to death, 911 dispatchers had a hard time communicating with deputies because the radio signal cut out.
Brennan said ankle monitors do not work on his street because they don’t get a strong enough signal.
County supervisor Ryan Coonerty said housing Cheek in the Santa Cruz mountains is “totally inappropriate” and “dangerous.”
“This guy has no connection to Santa Cruz County, other than he raped a woman here in 1980. No family, friends, or job that we know of,” Coonerty said.
Coonerty said taxpayers will be paying about $6,500 every month for Cheek’s rent.
“It appears the house that the state is renting for him is a $6,500-a-month house. Which is an insane amount of money to pay for housing someone to be up in the woods and effectively not monitored,” Coonerty said.
Residents in Bonny Doon said they are still dealing with feelings of trauma from the 2020 CZU August Lightning Complex fire that wiped out entire neighborhoods.
“It’s offensive as we have many Bonny Doon fire victims who are still looking for housing, and have not gotten that support,” Coonerty said.
The final decision for housing Cheek in Bonny Doon will be made by a Santa Cruz County judge. Community members can write their opinions to the judge and prison officials before August 23 by emailing criminalinfo@santacruzcourt.org and svp@scdao.us
“The Sheriff, DA and I will be making clear our vehement opposition, but it is also vital that the court hears from the community,” Coonerty said.
Earlier this year, a plan to house Cheek in Redwood City was abandoned after the homeowner rescinded her offer amid an uproar from community members.
Wild Iris Lane residents told KRON4 that they tried talking to the Bonny Doon house’s owner Tuesday morning as she was pulling out of her driveway. But the homeowner declined to talk and drove away, they said.
On its website, the California Department of State Hospitals wrote that Sexually Violent Predators are placed under 24-hour surveillance.
“A patient is under surveillance 24-hours a day and seven days a week…the patient will remain under GPS monitoring; the home or living unit is subject to unannounced searches; and the individual must still report to in-person meetings, submit to polygraph exams, drug tests and other examinations,” DSH wrote.
Atascadero hospital employees wrote in a report that Cheek has never expressed remorse for his crimes.