Sexually violent predator will not be released in SLO County, DA’s Office announces
A man with a history of sex crimes against children will remain committed under the care of the California Department of State Hospitals, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release Monday.
On Monday, San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Michael Duffy ordered Richard Mullin, 63, to be committed to Coalinga State Hospital after a jury found him to be a sexually violent predator.
Mullin had reached the end of his criminal sentence, and if not committed, could have potentially been released in SLO County.
Mullin had a long history of sexual crimes and specifically, crimes against minors, prosecution claimed during the trial.
In her closing argument Friday, Deputy District Attorney Melissa Chabra said Mullin told doctors in 1978 that he beat his 3-year-old stepson. In 1980, he was convicted for indecent exposure, and in 1981 he was charged with false imprisonment of a 10-year-old girl. In 1983, he was convicted of forcible lewd acts on a child, attempted rape and rape of child under the age of 14 while he was on probation.
He was also convicted of felony sexual battery and exposed himself to a 15-year-old girl in 1996.
The majority of Mullin’s crimes occurred in Riverside County but his trial last week took place locally because his most recent offense occurred in San Luis Obispo County: Mullin had previously been committed to Atascadero State Hospital, where he was caught with illegal substances, according to the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office.
“(The jury’s) finding will ensure this dangerous sexual predator will stay out of our community,” District Attorney Dan Dow said in a news release Monday. “We are committed to doing everything within our authority to protect the people of San Luis Obispo County from dangerous offenders like Mr. Mullin.”
Under California’s Sexually Violent Predator Act, a person can be committed as a sexually violent predator (also known as an SVP) once they have finished serving a felony term. That person must have a pattern of sexually violent acts in the past and a diagnosed mental health condition that contributed to the sexually violent acts they’ve committed to be declared an SVP.
The SVP law is civil, not criminal, and focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
Two doctors diagnosed Mullin with contributing mental health conditions that qualify him as an SVP, the prosecution claimed Friday.
Chabra said one of those doctors diagnosed Mullin of non-exclusive pedophilia and exhibitionist disorder, and another diagnosed him with paraphilia — a sexual desire condition — with concentrations of pedophilia and exhibitionism. He was also diagnosed with stimulant and alcohol use disorder and antisocial personality disorder, she said.
The doctors testified his conditions made it likely that he would engage in sexually violent behavior if released in the community, Chabra said.
Mullin’s defense argued he hadn’t committed a sexually violent act since 1996, but Chabra noted that Mullin has been in custody of either prison or a state hospital since that time so he has not been in the community.
