Christopher Hubbart, known as the "Pillowcase Rapist," was taken back into custody Tuesday about two years after his release from a state hospital, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.
Details regarding why he was taken into custody were not immediately available.
Hubbart, 65, had been living in the high desert northeast of Los Angeles after a judge rejected a request two years ago by Los Angeles County prosecutors to revoke his release. Hubbart was released from Coalinga State Hospital in July 2014 and was assigned to live at a home in the 20300 block of East Avenue R in the Palmdale area, about 60 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Hubbart has admitted to raping 40 women decades ago. He was sent to Atascadero State Hospital in 1972 after the court deemed him a "mentally disordered sex offender." The name "Pillowcase Rapist" was used to describe the attacker because he used a pillow to smother his victims' screams
Seven years later, doctors said he posed no threat and released him. Over the next two years, he raped another 15 women in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to court documents. Hubbart was again imprisoned, then paroled in 1990.
After accosting a woman in Santa Clara County, he was sent back to prison and then to Coalinga State Hospital. Hubbart was designated a sexually violent predator in Santa Clara County in 1996.
His lawyers argued in 2014 that Hubbart's continuing detention violated his rights to due process, sparking a battle over where he should live. As a condition of his release, Hubbart was required to wear an ankle monitor and attend regular therapy sessions and make quarterly reports to a judge.
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Residents of the area where Hubbart was sent to live vehemently opposed the decision, as did county Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the area. The District Attorney's Office tried unsuccessfully last year to have Hubbart's release revoked, with District Attorney Jackie Lacey saying "this violent predator continues to pose a serious danger to our community."
