P.

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant Ronald William Ward appeals from his indeterminate commitment as a

sexually violent predator (SVP) under Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 6600 et

seq. He contends his indeterminate commitment term violates his constitutional rights to

due process and equal protection, as well as the ex post facto clause. We find no error,

and we affirm.

II. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant does not challenge the evidence to support his civil commitment, so we

set forth the underlying facts summarily: Defendant has prior convictions for five counts

of lewd conduct with a child in 1985 and one prior conviction of forcible lewd conduct

with a child in 1981. Defendant was also convicted of forcible rape in 1978. In 1997,

defendant was committed under the Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA) (§ 6600 et

seq.) and was subsequently recommitted several times.

In April 2005 and March 2007, the People filed petitions to recommit defendant

under the SVPA. Defendant was evaluated in 2010 and 2011, and in the evaluators‟

opinions, defendant had a history of depression and substance abuse, as well as a mental

disorder of paraphilia and an antisocial…