SAN DIEGO -- A sexually violent predator who was released into the community, then returned to a hospital when he violated conditions of his release, agreed Monday to undergo more inpatient treatment.

Matthew Hedge made the announcement after hearing his psychiatrist, Dr. Gabrielle Paladino, testify at a revocation hearing in San Diego Superior Court.

Paladino, speaking on behalf of Hedge's treatment team at Atascadero State Hospital, said he needed to return to address problems that arose during a two-month stay as an outpatient in a trailer in Otay Mesa.

Defense attorney Richard Gates said outside court that Hedge told him of his decision at noon, but the attorney convinced his client to think about it over lunch to make sure.

Gates said Hedge returned to the courtroom after the lunchtime recess and told Judge Laura Hammes that he has identified his failings and needs more treatment in a hospital setting to address them.

"He wants to go back as soon as possible," Gates said outside court.

The attorney said Hedge will meet with his wife in the next day or so and then go back to Atascadero.

Hedge, 42, was released from the hospital and taken to a trailer outside the walls of Donovan State Prison on Nov. 8.

He was convicted in 1989 of molesting two boys and two girls. He served his sentence and became the first sexually violent predator released into San Diego County from Atascadero's multi-phase treatment program.

Liberty Healthcare, a private agency contracted by the state to set up and keep track of Hedge's progress as an outpatient, sent him back to Atascadero on Jan. 6, citing numerous concerns about his behavior.

Liberty Executive Director Kenneth Carabello sent a six-page letter to the court, asking that Hedge's outpatient status be revoked.

Paladino, who treated Hedge at Atascadero, denied he was being punished because he has a lifelong anti-social personality disorder.

"Mr. Hedge has to follow society's rules ... unconditionally," the psychiatrist testified.

She said Hedge's treatment team at Atascadero, which also includes a psychologist, social worker, unit supervisor and rehabilitation therapist, among others, has developed a plan of correction for Hedge at the hospital.

Paladino said there were "clear-cut" deficiencies in Hedge's behavior during his two months of freedom.

In order to live successfully in the community, Hedge and his conditional release program team must maintain complete and open communication, the psychiatrist testified.

Hedge failed to immediately report that two young girls were at a substance abuse program he attended, Paladino testified.

The sexually violent predator also violated a condition that he is to have no verbal or physical contact with children when he said "sorry" to them, the psychiatrist testified.

Hedge also lied to his outpatient treatment team, telling them he hadn't molested any youngsters when he was free on parole, when in fact he had, Paladino testified.

Hedge learned during his treatment at Atascadero that lying was unacceptable, Paladino testified.

She said Hedge exhibited some cockiness and attitude early in his outpatient release, telling members of his conditional release team that he didn't want to go a substance abuse program they had set up.

Hedge did, however, weigh the consequences and agree to go to the program later, the psychiatrist said.

Hedge called into question the authority of the conditional release team and hinted he may be above doing what they asked, Paladino testified.

"Humility is very essential to integrate into society," she said.

Paladino said she saw Hedge two days after he was ordered returned to Atascadero by Liberty.

"He didn't look devastated by it," the psychiatrist said.

Hedge also raised concerned by divulging that he had a deviant sexual fantasy about a child and told his wife about it when the two were having sex, Paladino said.

"Clearly things happened that were not positive while Mr. Hedge was out in the community," the psychiatrist said.

Hedge was also instructed to go a men's-only Narcotics Anonymous meeting because children were present at the meeting he had been attending, Paladino said.

Officials became concerned when Hedge put on his weekly schedule the same Narcotics Anonymous meeting where the children had been, the psychiatrist said.

In his opening statement, Gates told the judge that Hedge exhibited knowledge of high-risk behaviors and how to cope with them.

He said Hedge may have been re-hospitalized for technical violations.

"There is no clinical need for inpatient treatment," Gates told the judge. "Mr. Hedge was not a completed project. He is not a risk of reoffending."

A sexually violent predator is someone convicted of a sex crime and diagnosed with a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes him or her likely to commit predatory acts of sexual violence if not confined.

Another SVP, Douglas Badger, was ordered released from Atascadero in December, but state officials are still trying to find suitable placement for him in San Diego. A hearing in that case is scheduled April 7.