Judge Rules No Release to SoHum For Violent Sexual Predator
Screengrab of the Megan’s Law page for Joshua B. Cooley.
About forty residents from Southern Humboldt breathed a collective sigh of relief as the Honorable Judge John T. Feeney told them that Joshua Cooley, a man charged with kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old, would not be placed in Southern Humboldt. The group had traveled over an hour to protest the placement of the sexually violent predator in their rural community.
According to Michelle Bushnell who was at the hearing, the court is considering placing Cooley in Eureka on a transient placement where he would move every four days from hotel to hotel.
There will be another hearing on Cooley’s placement three weeks from today on Friday, May 3.
Earlier Chapters:
- Hearing on Sexual Predator Placement Near Garberville
- We Deserve Protection From Sexually Violent Predators Such as Joshua Cooley, Says Letter to the Editor
- Placement Site of Man Previously Determined to Be a Sexually Violent Predator Opposed by District Attorney
- Community Should Write Emails, Attend Public Hearing for ‘Violent Sexual Predator,’ Says Letter to the Editor
- Hearing for Sexually Violent Predator Placement in SoHum to Be Held Tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.
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Why is he not in jail for life??!
USA is soft on rapist & child sex offenders, question is… why did these ppl have to protest, this Judge is lame with adjudication & didn’t do what the DA suggested! I will remember this judge when it’s time to vote & vote for someone who’s harder on these crimes.
I agree with David Olson, have yet to understand why he would be allowed any freedom whatsoever. Throughout his long history, he has done nothing to cooperate. Also, who is footing the bill for these hotel stays and laughably, is he really expected to find a job? This is surreal!
You’d be amazed… my Mother & step-Mother both work in Mental Health at Prisons with sex-offenders & the system is horridly soft on these offenses compared to other crimes. They’re definitely not “re-habilitated” & have a high probability of re-offending. The Judge in this case was soft.
This is the truth. I know this thread is old but they are now doing the SAME thing!! Trying to relocate this creep to my rural town. 2 miles away from an elementary school and 1 mile from a local park that is our main location for youth sporting events. And for all of his repeated offenses, 3x now! He has neber spent 1 day in prison. he served all his little stints in a mental hospital. No thank you We will FIGHT to keep him out of our town of GALT, Ca
He got 2 years for kidnapping and raping a little girl?? It says case was 04 release was 06.
I got 3 years 1 month for gun possession and the only thing I would have hurt was some bottles and cans on the fence post. Awesome.
Horray for our court system.
Wait, he kidnapped and raped a child and only got 2 years? Is that correct?
Yes it is correct and ridiculous. they cited mental health issues and alcoholism. he was only sentenced to 4 yrs. for kidnap and rape of a 12 yr old. justice system is a joke!
He has only one thing on his sick mind when he is released and free. People like this don’t change. Your daughter or mine? Who’s next? It will be someone. Guaranteed. He will not stop until his needs are
Met. As my dad told me. “A man who has nothing to lose is of the most dangerous type.”
🕯I for one don’t agree with the laws for pedophiles but it takes people like the one’s today to change them. 👍🏾
Thank you to everyone who showed up, it was nice to see my community in that room. My question being would more have attended if the time and/ or location would have been different? With such an important matter I was shocked to not see more faces, this wouldn’t have just effected the immediate neighbors, it would have effected the entire southern humboldt area, don’t forget there is power in numbers!
But pleased with the outcome!
The article says he was “charged” with the crimes, doesn’t say he was convicted. Can you clarify, Kym?
If you read his profile, there is link in the last article, you will see he has been convicted more than once and is highly likely to do it again as we heard today in the courtroom. You are only labeled an SVP if you have committed and charged with certain type of sexual crimes.
This article from yesterday has more information but he was convicted of molesting a child under 14. The details as reported in FindLaw include:
Thanks for the clarity, Kym. Their actions are so very wrong!
~agree.
Should’ve been hung
You know with a P.O.S. like this guy. Why do they get to live. He is one of those that will never conform to society
Some one or better yet the courts need to rid the world of this p.o.s.
He has had his chances in life.
I don’t understand why he’s Humboldt’s problem, does he just want to live here? Why does our community have to take this burden?
He was arrested here so the law says he has to be released to here somewhere now that his sentence is over. They can’t force another county to take him and soon he is a free man. If they don’t put him somewhere he can be watched he will just be let go and disappear .
That’s kind of horrible to place him back in the community where he’s already committed crimes and probably still has connections with a bad crowd. We don’t even have a proper halfway house for this guy.
Too bad we don’t have a criminal trial partnership with Yemen. We wouldn’t have to worry about relocating him.
RE: Dog, it’s up to the Judges discretion & the DA said to keep him in a mental facility! Judges have a range of choices being minimal to maximum & this was the light side of the spectrum. Horrible.
I have no doubt in my mind that Judge Feeney just saved this man’s life. He never would have lasted in SoHum.
Do you ever look at Megan’s law? There is a guy in there that works at the chevron right in garb.
D.A. Maggie Fleming Plead with Judge Feeney to keep Cooley in the mental hospital. She also explained that Cooley had been harassing the female nurses there, and he has been unrepentant. He did sexually abuse a twelve year old child. Cooley said that he thought she was thirteen. Fleming further explained to Judge Feeney that it was in his power to keep Cooley in the Hospital in view of this new information.
Judge Feeney replied that his instruction by the higher courts were very specific and that Cooley should be reintegrated into society.
Cooley’s Grandparents were there to plead for his release. They are a very sweet couple, very polite, and said that they felt that their grandson should be given a chance and be released. I wonder what they would think if they knew to release Cooley in Alderpoint probably would have put his survival into question.
I am distressed with how many people had to travel so far to plead against what any local could have told them was a foolish placement.
However, all is well that ends well…. I am satisfied with the results and I am very proud of SuHum. Why does it feel like such a victory when all we did was stop something being done wrong.
Have the grandparents offered their place for him to live? Why does he have to be released into Himboldt Co?
Actually, he was being released to the hills above Garberville, some 13 miles from Alderpoint. The Alderpoint road runs from Garberville to Bridgeville (about 37 miles I think), Even Greater Alderpoint is only on about 2 miles of it. He was going to be living about 4 miles up the Alderpoint road from Garberville,
Ed
The address that was given was wrong. That address was the approximate location of Mike Thompson’s place. He was mildly upset about that mistake. Many things about this man’s placement bothered me and many others. I was blown away by how many mistakes were made in placing this man.
1-GPS monitors work perfectly off of satellite, but transmit by cell phone signal which is spotty at best.
2-The psychological assessments varied wildly. He was everything from a poor abused puppy that just needed a chance, to a sexually oriented sociopath monster that needed to be caged.
3- The description of the placement location had so many mistakes and lies that it was totally out of the question.
4-The judge, that had to make the decision to place him there, had not even been to the place in question. However, I can’t fault him on that, because he decided that he couldn’t be placed there and it would have been a waste of his time.
5-The legal system is worse than politics, I see no attempt to find the correct solution, only who gets to win with the best lies. It is clear to any person with good sense that this man belongs in a hospital and away from society.
6- I was mildly amused that the D.A was doing a better job of defending the public than the public defender.
Twelve, smhelve… Shit, 6 hours drive south of here (if you get my drift) he would have been someone’s son in law!
Viva Meheco, bitches!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mr. Chow (from The Hangover), is that you?
Motel stay? Summer be here with kids at motels. He should NOT be allowed near motels or schools.etc.
Someone should help him see the error of his ways….. sounds like the judicial system failed the community.
🕯There’s still a few Leprosy colonies left that they could ship these kind of people off to. In fact I think there might still be one left in California.
Yes, San Francisco!
Save the taxpayers make him pay for his own bullet like in China!!!!!
Didn’t you get the memo from the NRA and its useful pawns: guns and bullets don’t kill so how would that help?
These posts make me ashamed to be a human. Please consider that he has served 10 whole years behind bars for his crimes and it is the LAW to release him and give him a chance at life again. I hope that he has changed and if he hasn’t I blame our terrible CA prison system more than I blame him. He was a clearly messed up kid when this happened, all we can do is hope he’s improved and be vigilant in case he hasn’t.
Also 4 day stays in motels sound like the most ungrounding, destabilizing housing situation I’ve ever heard of. Are they trying to set him up to fail?
He served 5 was released , reoffended, and then spent 10 years in a state mental hospital where he showed no signs of remorse , was continually combative and made racist comments to non white staff . He was diagnosed with pedophilia , he is a violent alcoholic , a Sexually Violent Predator with a high risk to reoffend , this man does not belong in society.
Pedophiles do not change. Ever.
I am sooo grateful for the 40 SoHum community members that attended this sexual criminal’s relocation from criminal mental hospital/prison to our community.
How is it at all possible that he can be not locked up for life and getting judges considerations for trial release? This is beyond obscene insane!!!
I do know I did look up sexual criminals list permitted to live in any residential community in CALIFORNIA and in OREGON years ago when informed that such sexual criminals especially pedophiles are permitted to be registered and live independently
in our communities! There were sooo many in just Fortuna alone, beyond belief! Up in Oregon same thing…this one old geezer in his 70’s who’d been sexual criminal for decades…2 of his daughters who grew up around him and knew intimately of his sexual pedophile disease and testified finally able to come out along with many others proved his decades of crimes against any way young children. He took jobs kindergartners, day-care, schools, and conned his way into babysitting jobs. He was already a senior before he every was charged and went to trial and did a very few years. Hewasthen petitioning release and the judge said well he’s and old man and should be let out on like house arrest go live in neighborhood on registered sicko sexual criminal list. Community folks were protesting LOUDly because that old dude looked nice and normal and never showed remorse…and what do they learn while they are in prisons and mental hospitals? Do they even have competent organization for like SEXUAL CRIMES ADDICTS RECOVERY PROGRAMS? Nothing about the process as unfolding makes any rational or prudent sense to me whatsoever.
I am very interested to learn from my SoHum family, who to get in touch with for ongoing community support to protect our Eureka community where Judge says he will try to find place for Cooley in 4 day motel rotation stay 4 days then move to another hotel for 4 days then move to another hotel for 4 more days??? Wow for those trying to keep up with registered sexual criminal’s address for safety and neighborhood watch, that moving the criminal all around BS is sure not community friendly!
Please Kym Kemp can you please connect me with others so we can come up with info pack for process of engaging with DA and Courts to protest sexual criminals released into our home neighborhoods and help get the laws changed. Maybe we need an org like Mothers and Others Against Drunk Drivers… only Mothers and Others Against Sexual Criminals Release…?
Do I call DA on Monday and then figure out how to put news article to you KYM KEMP News… help Eureka and other neighborhoods develop a manual for community organizing for these hearings with Judge Feeney regards Joshua Cooley and others.
Next hearing date coming soon early May? Please advise!
Thanks to everyone that either wrote to the DA or showed up at the hearing to keep this POS out of our community.