State officials have recommended that a sexually violent predator twice convicted of sexually battering young boys be released from state custody into housing in Borrego Springs, sheriff’s officials said Monday.
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John Phillips, 70, was convicted of lewd and lascivious acts and sexual battery of a 3-year-old boy in 1992, the District Attorney’s Office said. He was sentenced to 360 days in jail and placed on a five-year probationary period.
A decade later, he was convicted again of lewd and lascivious acts with a 5-year-old boy and sentenced to eight years in state prison, prosecutors said.
In 2008, the District Attorney’s Office filed a petition to classify Phillips as a sexually violent predator, or SVP, a designation used for those convicted of sexually violent offenses and diagnosed with a mental disorder that makes them likely to re-offend. After serving their prison sentences, SVPs undergo treatment at state hospitals but may also petition courts to continue treatment in outpatient locations.
The SVP petition was found to be true in 2011, and Phillips was committed to a state hospital.
In 2025, a petition from Phillips to be released into a conditional release program was approved by San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide despite an objection from prosecutors, the District Attorney’s Office said.
On Friday, Liberty Healthcare, a contractor with the state, recommended Phillips be housed at 1619 Zuni Trail in Borrego Springs. The location is the same one that currently houses 83-year-old Douglas Badger, another sexually violent predator who committed crimes in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.
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The housing recommendation drew the ire of the desert community’s county supervisor, Jim Desmond. Phillips could become the third SVP to be housed in Borrego Springs.
In a letter distributed Tuesday, Desmond derided the state for placing SVPs in the “smallest, most remote towns it can find, towns with volunteer patrols and long response times, and it calls that a placement plan.”
Desmond suggested that SVP housing should be located on the grounds of a state prison or state hospital to improve security around SVPs and reduce their chances of reoffending.
To gather comments from the community about the possible placement, a hearing will occur in Dept. 1702 at the San Diego Superior Court at 9 a.m. Sept. 24.
“This is your opportunity to support or object to the proposed placement before it is finalized,” sheriff’s officials said in a news release Monday. “The District Attorney’s Office and the SAFE Task Force will submit your comments to the court for the court’s consideration.”
Comments will also be accepted between Aug. 25 and Sept. 7 and can be emailed to [email protected]. Residents can also call 858-583-7238 or send a letter to SVP/Release/SAFE Task Force at 9425 Chesapeake Dr., San Diego, CA 92123.
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