Habitual sex offender Ross Wollschlager has bounced from one Ventura County hotel to another in the weeks since his release from a state mental hospital, getting ejected each time the owner learned of his identity.

Publicity about his release has made it impossible for the 44-year-old convicted rapist to find a rural landlord willing to give him a place to live.

After seven evictions, Liberty Healthcare Corp., a San Diego company hired by the state of California to help Wollschlager get resettled, gave him a tent and he began living in the Ventura River bottom. He is overseen by a taxpayer-funded security guard who stays in a vehicle nearby.

Wollschlager's predicament has re- ignited debate on whether strict new laws governing sex offenders are making it more difficult to monitor them.

Jessica's Law, passed overwhelmingly by voters last fall, bars Wollschlager from living within 2,000 feet - about a half-mile - of any school, park or beach. He wears two monitoring devices on his ankle and shuttles between his campsite and a friend's home in Oxnard each day.

"It's harder to protect the public when he is homeless," said Margaret Coyle, a county prosecutor who opposed Wollschlager's release. "Were he in a condo or an apartment, we could supervise him more effectively."

But Will Smith, chief of staff for state Sen. George Runner of Lancaster, who sponsored Jessica's Law, said he believed it is effective in protecting residents.

"We've never made any argument that it wouldn't be harder to find housing, but we've always argued that it would be safer," Smith said. "We think the safety of residents in California outweighs any inconvenience on (Wollschlager's) part."

Liberty Healthcare is continuing to look for permanent placement for Wollschlager, a search that began 17 months ago, said Nancy Kincaid, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Mental Health.

It's not the first time a sex offender has become homeless upon release, Kincaid said.

Last summer, before Jessica's Law was approved, child molester Timothy Boggs was "chased from hotel to hotel" in Sacramento until a bail bondsman stepped forward to offer him a place to stay in his office, she said.

In San Luis Obispo County, felon Frederick Hoffman is scheduled to live in a trailer near military training grounds upon his release.

On Friday, the state Department of Corrections announced that it had notified 2,741 sex offenders, who were paroled after Nov. 8, 2006, that they were in violation of housing restrictions mandated by Jessica's Law. The parolees now have less than 45 days to comply with the law.

The problem is only going to get bigger, Kincaid said.

More than 650 convicts are being treated as repeat sex offenders, and at least 11 could be released within a year. Meanwhile, Jessica's Law expanded the definition of who should be treated for sex offenses, and referrals to the state-run sexually violent predator treatment program have grown from 50 a month to more than 700, Kincaid said.

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