Man Convicted of Mutilation May Be Paroled in Another State
SAN FRANCISCO — Reacting to protests from officials in Antioch, California parole authorities hope to move a man convicted of mutilating a teen-age girl in 1978 to a Southern state rather than to the East Bay suburb, authorities said Monday.
Department of Corrections spokesman Robert Gore said authorities have not yet scrapped plans to place parolee Lawrence Singleton in Antioch when he is released April 25. They are, however, in touch with two of Singleton’s brothers in an undisclosed Southern state who have agreed tentatively to provide him with housing and other aid.
“The whole process (of Singleton’s parole) is under review,” Gore said.
California parole authorities were planning to place Singleton in Antioch, a Contra Costa County town of 50,000, because his last California address was in the East Bay county.
When word of his release spread last month, however, Antioch residents began posting his pictures throughout the town and distributed petitions, gathering 7,000 signatures. Calling the plan to place him in Antioch “ill-conceived,” Mayor Joel Keller said, “We intend to pursue it in every legal, administrative and political way that we can.”
The City Council also filed a suit to block Singleton’s parole to Antioch. A hearing was set on the suit for today.
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