BAY POINT — Sheriff’s deputies took sex offender Cary Verse into custody Friday morning after he allegedly sexually harassed a person who had been in a therapy session with him.
Verse, who has lived on Willow Pass Road in Bay Point for six years, was picked up at 10:30 a.m. in Concord, booked at County Jail in Martinez and transported to Coalinga State Hospital.
Within 14 days, he will undergo a hearing to determine whether he will remain in Coalinga for additional treatment or be sent back to Bay Point, possibly with additional terms and conditions of his release, said Jennifer Turner, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Mental Health.
Verse, 40, gained notoriety when he became one of the first people released after completing a state program for sexually violent predators at Atascadero State Mental Hospital.
News media and the public followed the search for a permanent home for him as state officials moved him to a motel in Mill Valley, an abbey in Oakland and a motel in San Jose, before settling on a rental cottage in Bay Point.
Officials provided few details about what led to Verse being taken back into custody Friday except to say that his conditional release was revoked because of inappropriate conduct. Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jimmy Lee would not reveal where the alleged sexual harassment occurred or exactly what took place.
Turner, however, said “there is no chargeable offense associated with this.”
Verse’s landlord, Anthony Ashe, said he found it hard to believe that Verse was sent back to a state hospital.
“He has always interacted with me in a very positive manner,” said Ashe, who considers himself a friend. “I would be surprised if he would risk all that he has accomplished by doing anything intentionally.”
Verse was convicted of assaulting four males from 1988 to 1992. He assaulted a 14-year-old when he was 17, a 17-year-old when he was 18, another 14-year-old when he was 19 and a 23-year-old when he was 21.
He is now chemically castrated.
In 2006, Walnut Creek police pulled him over and discovered a 14-year-old boy riding as a passenger in his car, which violated the terms of his release.
Verse was sent back to Atascadero for additional treatment, and he was released six months later with the requirement that he carry a GPS monitor and have mandatory therapy. Until he was picked up on Friday, he had lived in Bay Point without incident since his 2007 return, Turner said.
Ashe said he has had no complaints about his tenant. Verse graduated from the culinary academy at Diablo Valley College and has been doing catering “and becoming a productive member of society, so I’m surprised about this setback,” Ashe said.
Neighbors described Verse as friendly and courteous and said as far as they know, he has created no problems. He lives alone, Ashe said.
Contact Sandy Kleffman at 925-943-8249.
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