Convicted rapist faces new moving hurdle in Santa Cruz County: Santa Cruz Sentinel

The Zoom screen in Santa Cruz County Superior Court in 2021 shows Chief Judge Syda Cogliati and convicted rapist Michael Cheek, who is currently being treated at the Department of State Hospitals-Coalinga. The facility specializes in treating sexually violent perpetrators. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel file)

SANTA CRUZ – More than a year after an appeals court denied him placement in a rural rental property in Bonny Doon, a twice-convicted rapist deemed safe for community reintegration could face similar obstacles in a new, unfamiliar location to be confronted.

After unsuccessfully searching more than 4,000 potential residences for Michael Cheek, whom the state classifies as a sexually violent predator, the Department of State Hospitals and its contractor, Liberty Healthcare Corp., told the court at recent hearings that they were settling on a had agreed on a new residential area. But on Wednesday, state officials told Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Nancy de la Peña that they needed more time to determine whether their chosen site was near a residential school.

“We have not been able to confirm this information and are requesting three weeks,” said Dr. Jane Hu from State Hospitals across from de la Peña.

A similar scenario played out after the court initially approved the San Lorenzo Valley accommodations for Cheek in November 2021. According to a ruling from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in early January 2023, Iris Lane residents appeared to have set up a home school after it was revealed that Cheek was pending placement, but state law continued to prohibit him from using the site.

Cheek, previously of Concord, was convicted of two separate rape and kidnapping cases in the early 1980s. The first case involved the kidnapping and assault of a 21-year-old visitor to Seabright State Beach. After his conviction in Santa Cruz, Cheek was transported to a vehicle theft charge in a Contra Costa County case and escaped custody only to rape a 15-year-old girl in Lake County, northeast of San Francisco.

Cheek then served 17 years in prison before being placed in psychological treatment by the Department of State Hospitals for another 22 years. In October 2019, Judge Stephen Siegel ordered Cheek released to outpatient treatment with continued treatment and supervision. The Iris Lane location was only identified in November 2021.