Lancaster Neighbors Fight Fourth Sex Offender Placement in Antelope Valley in Five Years

A rural pocket of Lancaster known as Hi Vista is bracing for what county leaders say would be the fourth sexually violent predator placed in the Antelope Valley in five years. Harold Wachter, a 63-year-old convicted child sex offender, is set for possible release to a single-family home in the community, with a judge already having determined him eligible for release after he spent nearly 20 years confined in a state mental hospital.

The proposed address, 45310 200th Street East, drew neighbors, county officials and a member of Congress to a Wednesday news conference outside the property, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. As reported by CBS Los Angeles, county records show Wachter's convictions include lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14 and child molestation, with his most recent conviction dating to 2001, before he was civilly committed as a sexually violent predator in 2008 and again in 2018.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said at the news conference that none of the sexually violent predators recently proposed for placement in the Antelope Valley have any ties to the community. She said one proposed offender originated from Orange County, while another committed most of his recent crimes in Santa Clara County. Barger called Wachter's proposed placement the fourth such case in the rural Antelope Valley in the past five years and said she is extremely concerned and angry about it, urging the public to email their opinions on the Lancaster placement before the hearing.

A Bus Stop 100 Yards Away

Neighbors who gathered outside the Hi Vista house Wednesday pointed to how close the property sits to children's daily routines. Elementary and middle school bus stops are located roughly 100 yards from the home, while a high school bus stop sits about 250 yards away, per the district attorney's office. Maria Bryan, who lives nearby, said the district attorney told her husband about the proposed placement and that she and her husband had simply hoped a decent family would move into the home instead.

Bryan said Wachter is known for horrific crimes. Under California's Sexually Violent Predator Act, enacted in 1996, offenders who finish their prison terms but are diagnosed with mental disorders making them likely to reoffend can be civilly committed to state hospitals and later conditionally released under monitoring, according to Placer County, CA. A private company contracted by the state, identified elsewhere as Liberty Healthcare, will provide Wachter's supervision if he is released.

A Pattern County Leaders Call a Dumping Ground

Barger has previously flagged the demographic imbalance behind these placements. In a July letter to state hospital officials, she noted that the rural Antelope Valley accounts for just 4% of Los Angeles County's total population despite being repeatedly selected for sexually violent predator housing, according to KHTS Radio. County officials argue the area's remote geography and sparse population make it a repeated target for placements that must meet distance buffers from schools, parks and other youth locations.

The pattern is not new. In December 2021, an Orange County Superior Court judge ordered the conditional release of child sex offender Lawtis Donald Rhoden to the Antelope Valley despite his official legal domicile being Orange County, according to CBS Los Angeles. Rhoden had been convicted of multiple child sexual assaults dating back to 1969. More recently, in March 2025, convicted serial rapist Christopher Hubbart, known as the “Pillowcase Rapist” and who admitted to 44 sexual assaults, was placed in the Juniper Hills community of the Antelope Valley following Los Angeles Superior Court approval, per the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Hoodline previously covered the fight over Hubbart's return, when Barger led community opposition citing sparse law enforcement resources and lack of cell coverage in the region.

Courts have generally rejected arguments that regional concentration should factor into individual placement decisions. In an October 2024 order approving an offender placement in the region, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert S. Harrison ruled that the prior release of other sexually violent predators in nearby neighborhoods is not legally relevant when evaluating a proposed housing location, according to the Los Angeles Times. Current state law evaluates each proposed property individually rather than weighing how many other offenders have already been placed nearby.

Legislative Pushback in Sacramento and Washington

State and federal lawmakers have moved to address the concentration concerns. In October 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 380, an urgency measure requiring the Department of State Hospitals to study placing conditionally released sexually violent predators in state-run transitional housing facilities instead of residential neighborhoods, according to the Office of Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares. That bill implemented recommendations from the California State Auditor's Office.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in July 2025 to endorse Senate Bill 379, known as the SAFE Act, which would require the Department of State Hospitals to conduct public safety evaluations and secure explicit state approval before private vendors can sign property leases for offenders, according to the California Globe. Barger introduced that motion.

Representative George Whitesides, who has represented California's 27th Congressional District covering the Antelope Valley since January 2025, spoke at Wednesday's news conference. Whitesides plans to introduce the Stop Predator Dumping Act on Thursday, legislation intended to establish limits on the concentration of sexually violent predator placements within a region and prohibit unfair placement actions.

What Happens Next

Public comments on Wachter's proposed Lancaster placement were being accepted until 5 p.m. Wednesday, ahead of a decision expected in a Hollywood courtroom on September 10. Barger has urged Antelope Valley residents to make their opposition known before that hearing, arguing the community has already absorbed more than its share of these placements while having no connection to the offenders being sent there.