SAN DIEGO -- A convicted sex offender with a history of violence will ask a judge for his release back into the community following years of treatment at a state mental hospital.

Matthew Hedge, 45, was returned to Coalinga State Hospital for more treatment in January 2006 after violating the terms of his outpatient release.

He had been allowed to live in a trailer outside the walls of Donovan State Prison in Otay Mesa after completing a multi-phase treatment program in November 2005 but was taken back to the hospital because state officials monitoring his movements said he talked with two girls at a treatment center, lied to the center's staff and had a deviant sexual fantasy about a child.

Hedge was the first sexually violent predator released back into San Diego, where he committed his crimes.

He was convicted in 1989 of molesting two boys and two girls and served his criminal sentence before entering the treatment program at the hospital.