California prosecutors warn of release of 7 'high risk' sex offenders, some who served 'just days'
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Prosecutors in Orange County, California on Tuesday, April 28 issued a warning to the public about the release of seven sex offenders in 21 days -- some "who spent just days behind bars despite being accused of cutting off their GPS monitors."
In a news release, the district attorney's office said the seven registered sex offenders with crimes ranging from indecent exposure, to sexual battery, to child molestation were released beginning April 7 after rulings by the court commissioner.
Per state law, Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes on March 27 announced the release of "a limited number of Orange County Jail inmates prior to the conclusion of their sentence to mitigate the spread of COVID-19." At the end of March, the sheriff's office noted: "At this time, Sheriff Don Barnes is limiting releases to low-level offenders with less
than 10 days remaining on their sentence and inmates who are medically vulnerable as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and the Public Health Officer. Violent offenders and those who pose a risk to the community will not be released early."
Prosecutors said many of the seven sex offenders who were released spent days behind bars instead of the six months required by law for registered sex offenders who violate parole by removing or disabling GPS monitors.
The release said one of the sex offenders, who was convicted of sexual battery, was release on April 7 after he was sentenced to time served and ordered to report to parole. Prosecutors said two weeks later, he was in court on another parole violation, and again sentenced to time served.
The release of these seven registered sex offenders came as Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes reported to the county board on Tuesday the jail population had been reduced by nearly 45% since March 7 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“These kinds of high-risk sex offenders are the most dangerous kind of criminal and the most likely to re-offend. They are doing everything they can to avoid detection by the parole officers assigned to monitor them so they can potentially commit additional sex offenses. These are not the kind of people who should be getting a break,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer in the news release. “As a state legislator, I was the author and founder of the State of California Sex Offender Management Board and the author of Megan's Law on the Internet, which allows the public to see where these sex offenders are so that they can protect themselves and their families. It is not the Court’s responsibility to control the jail population by releasing these dangerous criminals back into our communities. The residents of Orange County deserve to have the peace of mind that registered sex offenders are being held accountable and not just let out the front door of a jail by a court commissioner who refuses to follow the law.”
The release noted "as a result of these dangerous decisions to not follow the law, the Orange County District Attorney's Office will not stipulate to appear" before the court commissioner on parole violations involving registered sex offenders.
Prosecutors released the following information regarding the seven sex offenders released since April 7:
Luis Joel Ramirez, 27
James Franklin Bowling, 50
Rudy William Grajeda Magdaleno, 39
Calvin Curtis Coleman, 52
Kyle Albert Winton, 40
Jose Adrian Oregel, 46
Mario Ernesto Sandoval, 45