Convicted serial harasser lashes out at S.F. judge who ordered him held in custody

A serial harasser accused of parole violations tied to a case in which he touched and groped women in San Francisco yelled at a judge in an outburst Thursday after he was ordered to remain in custody without bail.

“I went to prison for something I didn’t even do,” Bill Gene Hobbs shouted at Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman. “You convicted me for something I didn’t even do.”

Dorfman, who coincidentally presided over Hobbs’ trial, reminded him: A jury found him guilty, not Dorfman.

“Harry, you’re a s-ty judge,” Hobbs told Dorfman before bailiffs escorted him away.

“That won’t change my decision today,” the judge quipped.

Authorities allege Hobbs, 37, missed a mental health treatment program meeting and failed to fully charge his GPS monitoring device – conditions imposed as part of his parole, according to court records.

A different judge is expected to decide as early as next week whether Hobbs – who served about two years in custody, less than half of his full sentence – violated his parole conditions and, if so, impose a possible punishment.

On Thursday, Deputy Public Defender Sujung Kim, who represented Hobbs, asked the judge to release Hobbs, who she said was in the process of applying to jobs. Assistant District Attorney Reve Bautista and Parole Agent Niel Chu opposed, raising concerns about his mental health and the danger they said he poses to others as a sex offender.

“Parole is concerned for the safety of the public,” Chu said. By failing to attend the mental health program required as part of Hobbs’ parole conditions, Chu added, “he’s not addressing his mental health needs.”

Chu told Dorfman he didn’t know how many meetings Hobbs had attended.

“I’ve gone to every single meeting,” Hobbs chimed in. He added that he missed a 10 a.m. meeting but attended a make-up session a few hours later.

Kim said it seemed the prosecutor and the parole agent wanted to keep Hobbs in jail based simply on his conviction and a “general notion” that he posed a danger to the public. They had not specified why he remained a danger, even in light of the alleged parole violations, Kim said, adding that Hobbs had participated in the program to address his mental health. “Please give him another change,” Kim said.

His arrest on the alleged parole violations came after the Chronicle reported that he returned to the city and had approached women in similar ways as he did in a series of incidents three years ago.

Hobbs was arrested in October 2022, accused of predatory behavior that targeted young, unsuspecting women. Prosecutors said he followed, grabbed and chased the women, many of whom were running or walking alone in broad daylight.

In May 2023, a jury convicted him of false imprisonment related to an instance in which he picked up and carried a woman down a block, as well as misdemeanor counts of battery, sexual battery and assault in connection with other incidents. He was sentenced to back-to-back terms: two years and six months in county jail and three years in state prison. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for at least 10 years, although he was not listed on the state’s registry until last week.

After Hobbs served his sentence “as defined by the law,” the state parole board determined he met the criteria to be paroled to a psychiatric hospital, a step intended to keep parolees deemed a danger to others detained and treat their mental health disorders.

Hobbs was paroled to Atascadero State Hospital in San Luis Obispo County in November. He then appealed the move, and, after a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge found he did not meet “the statutory criteria” for the commitment at the hospital, he was paroled in San Francisco in April.

After he successfully appealed his stay at the psychiatric hospital, Hobbs was sent to his mother’s home in Bakersfield, but her lease agreement didn’t allow him to live with her, so he returned to San Francisco on parole, Bautista said Thursday.

Moments later, as he was escorted out, Hobbs shouted that he didn’t want to come back to San Francisco.

This article originally published at Convicted serial harasser lashes out at S.F. judge who ordered him held in custody.