Search continues for Ventura sexually violent predator's placement in Ventura County

Authorities on Friday continued their search for a place where a Ventura sexually violent predator can live while getting treatment outside a state mental health hospital. 

Ross Wollschlager, 56, has spent several years at a state hospital getting treatment for diagnosed sexual mental disorders after being convicted of raping two women in 1983 and molesting a child in 1989. 

A series of laws passed in the 1990s made it possible for offenders of certain sex-related crimes with certain disorder diagnoses to be civilly committed to a state hospital for treatment. The thinking was that was safer than releasing these so-called sexually violent predators back into the community. 

But in January, Wollschlager’s doctors opined that he should continue treatment at a facility outside the hospital under state supervision, which the law also allows.

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In January, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Nancy Ayers reviewed three reports from Wollschlager’s clinicians. Ayers found Wollschlager was no longer a danger to the community and directed Liberty Healthcare — which contracts with the state to oversee the conditional-release program for sexually violent predators — to find him suitable residential placement.

Nearly a year later, his release was further delayed Friday at a hearing in Ventura County Superior Court. 

“So the saga continues, Mr. Wollschlager, trying to find a place for you,” Judge David Worley said at the start of the hearing. 

The issue appeared to be Liberty Healthcare was having trouble meeting certain state requirements, said Barbara Volpe, Wolslchlager’s attorney. 

It was the latest obstacle in this long search that Volpe argues is now violating her client’s constitutional rights. Volpe, of the Ventura County Public Defender’s Office, said the issues Liberty Healthcare most recently encountered seem to be systemic. 

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“I object to any continuance,” Volpe said. 

Worley noted her objection, but he overruled her, continuing the placement hearing to Dec. 27. 

Senior Deputy District Attorney Margaret Coyle requested that for the benefit of Wollschalger, he be sent back to the state hospital while the search continues. He has been held in Ventura County jail since early November, when the latest hearings started again. 

Worley approved that request on Friday. 

The search so far

In March, the state’s search expanded from Ventura County to places like Sacramento and Joshua Tree after Ayers found there were “extraordinary circumstances” to look elsewhere. Officials and residents in those places, however, vehemently opposed Wollschlager moving in. 

In November, Ayers decided Joshua Tree, the latest option, wasn’t the right fit for the community or Wollschlager. She also found that her initial direction to look outside Ventura County was premature and that the state should return to looking locally. 

This back-and-forth prompted Volpe to first argue in November that this search was encroaching on Wollschlager’s rights. She requested the court release him into Ventura County without supervision or on transient release. 

That request was denied Nov. 14 and the court asked Liberty Healthcare to renew their search for suitable residences in Ventura County. Friday’s hearing was the first one since the court gave that order. 

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Megan Diskin is a courts and breaking news reporter with The Star. Reach her at megan.diskin@vcstar.com or 805-437-0258.