Tougher Sex Offender Law Signed : Legislation: Applauded by activists at Covina ceremony, governor approves prolonged confinement of felons if they are found mentally defective when their prison sentences are completed.

Surrounded by fledgling activists whose outrage at the proposed release of a serial rapist spawned a new state law, Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation Tuesday that forces violent sex offenders into confinement in mental hospitals if they are found mentally defective when their prison sentences are completed.

The law was essentially prodded into being by protests in the San Gabriel Valley and elsewhere that stemmed from the planned release last year of Reginald Muldrew.

One of the largest protests had taken place in the Covina park where Wilson signed the new law to the applause of many of the people who were involved in the demonstration. In the Covina area alone, 19,000 signatures protesting the release were gathered last year.

Muldrew’s parole was revoked then, but he will be released in December when his sentence is completed, just weeks before the law goes into effect Jan. 1. Had he been covered under the new law, Muldrew could have been confined indefinitely in a mental hospital.

Wilson, city and state officials and a crime victim on Tuesday praised the stubbornness of Covina residents and others in Southern California who joined in their effort.

“Without your courage, without your insistence, we would not be celebrating this day,” Wilson told the crowd of several hundred people.

The Tuesday event, replete with police officers and schoolchildren, put Wilson back in the warm embrace of the crime victims’ movement, where he has always enjoyed popularity. The governor’s praise of the crowd was rewarded with repeated cheers.

While it dealt with the pressing issue of crime, Wilson’s appearance Tuesday was also part of a larger effort to bolster his low standing among Californians. His popularity plummeted earlier this year when he began an ill-starred bid for the presidency, and aides have made it clear that Wilson wants to recoup those losses.

So far, his effort has included a series of ceremonial bill signings in various areas of the state.

For Wilson, Tuesday’s appearance was a return to familiar themes. He sharply criticized the Assembly Criminal Justice Committee, a regular Wilson target which, when under Democratic control, had blocked legislation similar to that which the governor signed Tuesday.

Wilson pointed out that had the new “three strikes” law and the “one strike” law for sex offenders been in effect earlier, Muldrew and others like him would have been imprisoned instead of out on the streets.

After previous felony convictions, Muldrew was convicted of six counts of sexual assault and numerous other felonies in 1978. According to police, he is suspected of having committed more than 200 rapes in the late 1970s.

“He should not be released to any community,” said Wilson of Muldrew. “No community should have to accept him.”

Under the new law, violent sex offenders will be mentally evaluated before their sentences are completed. Those determined to have disorders can then be committed to a secure mental health facility after their sentence is served.

The commitment can last indefinitely, Wilson said, as long as the inmate is evaluated every two years.

Under current law, pending paroles can be revoked--as Muldrew’s was--if an offender is found to be mentally ill and still has time remaining on his sentence. (State inmates have been routinely paroled before the completion of sentence because of credits built up by good behavior.)

But until now, there was no means by which state officials could retain control over an inmate after his prison sentence was served. “Some of the most dangerous criminals will no longer be released simply because the law is so absurdly lenient,” the governor said. Before Wilson signed the legislation with a ceremonial flourish, organizers of the original protest said their experience proved that citizens willing to press for change could make a difference.

One crime victim appearing at the rally said she had come not to accept sympathy but to “applaud you.”

“I’m proud of you,” said the woman, who still fears for her safety. “You didn’t allow yourself to be victimized.”