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OFFICE OF THE <br />DISTRICT ATTORNEY <br />ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA <br />TODD SPITZER <br />I Y01:4 1515141) (_%1 ;1:7 4 4;T;M 4 <br />Date:April 28, 2020 <br />PRESS RELEASE <br />Kimberly Edds <br />Public Information Officer <br />Office: 714-347-8405, Cell: 714-504-1917 <br />media@da.ocgov.com <br />Orange County District Attorney Issues Community Warning <br />Regarding Release of Registered Sex Offenders <br />With jailpopulation at historic low, there is no reason to release <br />dangerous criminals back into our communities <br />SANTA ANA, Calif. — The Orange County District Attorney's Office is issuing a warning to county residents about seven high <br />risk registered sex offenders who have been released from jail months early despite being charged with cutting off their GPS <br />monitors or otherwise tampering with the tracking devices to render them inoperable. <br />Many of the registered sex offenders who were released early spent just days behind bars instead of the six months <br />required by law for registered sex offenders who violate parole by removing or disabling GPS monitors. The sex offenders <br />are monitored by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), which submitted the parole violations <br />to the court. <br />Since April 7, 2020 seven registered sex offenders — with crimes ranging from indecent exposure and sexual battery to child <br />molestation — have been released as a result of rulings by appointed Court Commissioner Joseph Dane. <br />One of the registered sex offenders, convicted of sexual battery, was released on April 7, 2020 after Commissioner Dane <br />sentenced him 20 days credit time served and ordered him to report to parole. Just two weeks later — on April 24, 2020 - he <br />appeared in court on another parole violation and Commissioner Dane again released him after sentencing him to 16 days <br />credit time served. <br />Sheriff Don Barnes reported to the Orange County Board of Supervisors today the population in the Orange County jail <br />system has been reduced by nearly 45% since March 7 and there is no overcrowding issue. Sheriff Barnes assured that <br />proper steps, including social distancing, masks, and quarantining of new inmates, are in place. <br />"These /ands of high -risk sex offenders are the most dangerous kind ofo7minal and the most likely to re -offend. They are <br />doing everything they can to avoid detection by the parole officers assigned to monitor them so they can potentially commi <br />additional sex offenses These are not the kind ofpeople who should be getting a breakAid Orange County District <br />Attomey Todd Spitzer. 'As a state legislator, I was the author and founder of the State ofCalifomia Sex Offender <br />Management Board and the author ofMegan Y Law on the Intem4 which a0ows the public to see where these sex <br />offenders are so that they can protect themselves and their families. <br />Ris not the Courts responsibility to control the jail population by releasing these dangerous criminals back into our <br />communities The residents of Orange County deserve6ft t2 peace of mind that registered sex offenders are being <br />