Police say convicted sexual predator won't be paroled in Petaluma

SONOMA, Calif. (KGO) -- Petaluma police say a convicted sexual predator will not be paroled in that community after all.

Jonathan Michael Hoppner, 23, who is developmentally disabled, spent eighteen months in the county jail after groping two women on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus.

But, wherever he is released, Hoppner may not anonymity in the North Bay after his photos were posted on bulletin boards at across the campus.

"The picture is up and around. Email is out to students, so everyone is aware of it," said Robert Brown Lee, with the campus police.

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In 2013 and 2015, Hoppner groped women on or near the campus. If he sets foot there after his parole he could be arrested due to a stay-away order from the courts.

Until the change of plans late Friday afternoon, Hoppner would have been living in Petaluma, a city with sixty other paroled sexual offenders inside its limits.

Sexual crimes hit a special nerve in this community. It was 23 years ago when Petaluma was gripped with the pain from the murder and abduction of Polly Klaas.

"We are a traumatized community. That whole experience still lies here and when we hear about another sex offender it brings it to light, again," said Jennifer Restive, who lives in Petaluma.

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Meantime, Hoppner's mother wants to reassure the public that wherever her developmentally disabled son goes, he's not a threat.

Margery Hoppner wrote to ABC7 News that, "he has never spent a day in state prison, and yet, the 'justice' system has labeled him a state felon and continues to punish him for his mental disability."

In fact, he was convicted of misdemeanors, served only in county jail.