SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) - A community alert by police has changed plans for releasing a high-risk sex offender in Northern California.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports state officials had planned to house 23-year-old Jonathan Michael Hoppner in a Petaluma hotel after his release (https://bit.ly/22KUXpY). Hoppner had been sentenced to 18 months for molesting a 15-year-old girl at Santa Rosa Junior College. It was his seventh conviction for sexual battery in two years.
Petaluma police opted to release a public warning Thursday about Hoppner’s release. Santa Rosa Junior College also issued a warning.
The hotel that was supposed to lodge the man is now refusing to.
Corrections officials are now considering Hoppner a transient. They will use GPS to help monitor him.
Authorities declined to say whether his homelessness would make monitoring more difficult.
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