Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
NORTH COUNTY (CNS) - The San Diego County Sheriff's Department said
today 59-year-old Cary Jay Smith, a convicted sex offender recently released
from a state psychiatric hospital, is now staying at a North County motel.
Smith had briefly relocated to the cities of Orange and Corona, then
Lake Elsinore, officials said Sunday.
``Cary decided to leave the Lake Elsinore area. Thank you to everyone
who engaged with us upon learning he was in our community,'' the Riverside
County Sheriff's Lake Elsinore station posted on Facebook.
The San Diego Sheriff's Department tweeted about 3:30 p.m. Sunday that
the agency ``is monitoring a sex offender released by Coalinga State
Hospital two weeks ago to ensure the safety of our communities. 59-year-old
Cary Jay Smith is staying at a motel in the North County. He's moved around
Orange and Riverside Counties since his release.''
A watch commander said the sheriff's department is not currently
releasing the name of the city in North County where Smith is staying.
``Smith is not wanted for any crime,'' the sheriff's department tweet
continued. `He is not on parole or probation and can move without restrictions.
Do not contact, confront or attempt to apprehend Smith.''
A protest against Smith staying in Lake Elsinore had been planned but
was called off following the announcement that he had left the area.
Smith was released from Coalinga State Hospital on Tuesday after
spending 21 years there for openly fantasizing about raping and killing
children.
He stayed in Los Angeles for one night before making his way to
Orange, where he checked into a halfway home on Thursday, said Sgt. Phil
McMullin of the Orange Police Department.
On Saturday morning, Corona police said Smith had relocated to a motel
in that city, where he was being surveilled by law enforcement.
``Mr. Smith is not on any form of supervised release or required to
register as a sex offender. Smith can move around without restrictions,''
Corona police said in a Twitter message.
At 9:05 p.m. Saturday, Corona police tweeted: ``A short time ago Cary
decided to leave the City of Corona. Thank you to everyone who engaged with us
upon learning he was in our community.''
A few hours later, the Riverside County Sheriff's Lake Elsinore
station issued a community alert. ``Convicted Sex Offender Cary Smith is
CURRENTLY in the city of Lake Elsinore,'' it read. ``...Deputies from the
Riverside County Sheriff's Department are currently watching Smith while he is
staying at a local hotel to ensure the safety of our community. Smith is not on
any form of supervised release nor is he required to register as a sex
offender. Smith is allowed to move around without restrictions.
``We will update the community when he leaves the city.''
Last week, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer and Board of
Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel issued a news release about Smith and
sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking for help researching why Smith was no
longer required to register as a sex offender despite a conviction and
requirement to do so in 1985.
Newsom's office referred questions to the Department of State
Hospitals. Ken August of the Department of State Hospitals said state and
federal privacy laws prohibited the department from commenting.
Smith appeared to be ``very mild and passive'' when McMullin spoke
with him Thursday night.
State and Orange County Health Care Agency officials referred Smith to
the facility. Police warned the administrator of the facility about Smith's
past, but he was accepted.
Smith pleaded guilty in 1985 to a misdemeanor sex offense against a
child, requiring him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life,
Spitzer said.
However, in 2005, that requirement was lifted for an unknown reason,
Spitzer said.
``We need to look into this and know why he is no longer a lifetime
290,'' Spitzer said, referring to the code in the law that requires sex
offenders to register with authorities so they can be tracked.
``We believe he is a lifetime registrant,'' Spitzer said.
In 2002, prosecutors attempted to charge Smith with sexual assaults on
a 13-year-old, but the case was thrown out because of an issue with the
statute of limitations, Spitzer said.
Smith was committed to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino in 1999
on a psychological hold when his wife gave a psychiatrist a letter her
husband wrote that described sex acts he fantasized about on a 7-year-old boy
in his neighborhood in Costa Mesa, according to prosecutors.
The state kept him locked up in a state hospital under a civil
commitment that concluded he was a danger to children, according to
prosecutors. Under that law, he had the opportunity to seek release in a trial
every six months.
But during the hearings, he has testified that he continues to
fantasize about sexually assaulting and killing young boys, prosecutors said.
``He calls himself `Mr. RTK,' which stands for rape, torture, kill,''
Spitzer said. ``That's what I think has kept him in. He says, `If you don't cut
off my penis and hands I will molest again.'''
Spitzer said he has no real connection to the case because it was a
civil commitment, but wanted to warn the public about the potential danger.
``It's just really upsetting and aggravating to me that one of the
governor's departments released a guy who is such an aberration and outlier and
it doesn't advise the public,'' Spitzer said.
``That's crazy to me. So the only thing I can do under the law is warn
people and get his picture out there and build awareness of him, but I
can't do much else.''
It was the county counsel's office that had the authority to object to
Smith's release, but it was apparently not notified this time and the hold
on him expired on Saturday, Steel and Spitzer said in their letter to Newsom.
Spitzer said his office has been in touch with the state Attorney
General's Office to determine why the sex offender registration requirement was
lifted and whether it can be reinstated.
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