By Jon Chown
Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell announced April 10 that twice convicted sex offender Michael Thomas Cheek will not be placed at either of two previously proposed locations: 970 Main St., Watsonville, and 111 Ocean St., Santa Cruz.
Michael Thomas Cheek
Cheek was convicted in 1980 in Santa Cruz County of kidnapping, rape and forcible oral copulation of a 21-year-old woman and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Shortly after sentencing, Cheek escaped from custody and committed a second rape in Lake County involving a 15-year-old girl.
His criminal sentence ended in 1997, but the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office successfully petitioned to have Cheek declared a sexually violent predator under state law and he was committed to the California Department of State Hospitals for treatment.
A sexually violent predator is defined as a person with a diagnosed mental disorder that makes them likely to engage in sexually violent criminal behavior and who poses a danger to the health and safety of others.
In 2019, the Department of State Hospitals determined Cheek was suitable for conditional release, and a judge ordered his release to Santa Cruz County. Since then, state officials and contractor Liberty Healthcare have been unable to find a placement and Cheek remains locked up. A hearing on the proposed placement had been set for May 22. However, in both cases, the property owner has withdrawn from consideration due to community opposition, according to a press release from the DA.
“Our office had significant public safety concerns with the proposed placement made by Liberty and we are pleased that these properties are no longer being considered,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosell.
According to the District Attorney, the Department of State Hospitals contracts with Liberty Healthcare of California to supervise, treat, and monitor all sexually violent predators engaging in outpatient treatment. Liberty publicly disclosed the proposed placement addresses on April 6.
Both the city of Watsonville and the city of Santa Cruz issued statements soon after strongly opposing the placement. In both Santa Cruz and Watsonville, he would have been placed at a hotel, near the center of town.
Watsonville city officials said in a statement that a hotel setting is “not appropriate” for such a placement and argued the proposed Watsonville site sits in a busy commercial corridor near youth- and family-serving spaces. They also raised concerns that hotel guests would be unaware they could encounter a sexually violent predator on the premises.
“We do not believe this is in the best interests of our community,” the city said, urging residents to submit written comments to the court.
The city of Santa Cruz had a similar response about placing him in a hotel on Ocean Street, noting that the site is “extremely close” to over a dozen youth-serving facilities, including a preschool, youth center, beaches, and parks. The city contends that placing Cheek there would so fundamentally change the “intensity and character of land use” that placing him at the hotel would require a coastal development permit.
In 2024 it was proposed that Cheek be housed in a one-bedroom home in Aptos, at the end of Forest Drive, but the public rejected that idea as well.