A normal married couple. Young and on the road, they stopped at a motel to get some much-needed rest. Then, he appeared. Wielding a knife and a crazed look in his eyes, he stood above them as they awoke in the dark.

From there, he orchestrated a nightmarish scene too depraved for the pages of this newspaper but suffice to say, that normal couple’s life was anything but normal after this traumatic night.

He did it dozens of times to dozens of young women and couples over a decade-long spree of carnality in San Diego County before he was caught and sent to prison, where he belonged. His name is Alvin Quarles, but you may remember him as the bolder-than-most rapist. He is a sexually violent predator.

Sexually violent predators include the most heinous sex offenders in history. Perpetrators with dozens, even hundreds of victims, who faced a lifetime in prison. They are diagnosed with a mental disorder with a high likelihood to reoffend. They cannot be fixed. They cannot be rehabilitated. But they can be released according to radical Democrat lawmakers’ soft-on-crime early release programs.

For Quarles, that means a November hearing this year will decide whether he’ll be sprung loose from the mental institution he’s called home since his 2014 release from prison. He’s requesting release as a transient, allowing him to roam the streets of San Diego County where unsuspecting potential victims lead normal lives just like those he’s shattered with delight in his destructive past.

He’s not a rare case, and unfortunately, an increasing number of these depraved predators have been released into our family-friendly communities and even more are being considered.

From Jacumba to Poway, San Diego County communities are facing a barrage of attempts from the Department of State Hospitals — the agency responsible for placing and supervising these predators in California — to integrate men like Quarles into our communities.

While previous governors mandated these predators be released on state fire camps and prison grounds with constant supervision, Gov. Gavin Newsom has yet to intervene, despite years of calling on him to do so. With few housing options available, his department is now resorting to ‘transient release. This is the opposite of safety.

When no suitable housing for these convicted criminals is available — because no such housing exists that doesn’t put the community at risk — the department lets them free anyway. From there they vagabond from place to place, popping up at taxpayer-funded hotels or living in taxpayer-funded RVs on our city streets.

This is dangerous and irresponsible. And it’s not a solution. But what, then, shall we do with them?

While I argue these predators should never be released, if a court mandates it, we must release them in the safest way possible.

Although they cannot be truly rehabilitated, they are even more likely to reoffend with the freedom and lack of oversight of transient release, which has a 50% failure rate.

However, there are some solutions if the Newsom administration will prioritize public safety over pedophile comfort.

Last year, I called on the California State Auditor to conduct a full review of this dangerous predator release program. Along with detailing some damning information about safety mismanagement and bloated costs (nearly $500,000 per year per released predator), the audit recommends placing these predators on state grounds.

In Washington, the state releases sexually violent predators to state-owned group housing outside of populated areas. There, released predators are under constant supervision and security, they receive mental health treatment and they pose no harm to the surrounding communities.

Similar programs exist, in varying forms, across 13 states. California has no such program. It should. And it should reform the entire sexually violent predator release program to prioritize public safety first, last and foremost.

I’ve introduced three bipartisan bills to force the state to prioritize safety, but every year, my bills are shot down by Democrat lawmakers who chose to put predators over the people. But I will not be deterred.

With the audit as backing, I’ll be introducing comprehensive legislation to address the way our state handles these sexually violent predators. It’s time we fix this dangerous program and keep our communities safe once and for all.

Jones is the California Senate Republican leader representing the 40th Senate District and lives in Santee.