POL POSITION:Continue keeping sex offenders away from kids

Never again. That should be our battle cry as we go in search of answers from the California Department of Corrections.

I say “never again” because this situation should never have occurred to begin with. Unfortunately, it did and now it is our duty as legislators and responsible members of the public to take a look at how we can avoid this danger to Orange County communities in the future.

As many of you know, on April 26 it was revealed that 21 sex offenders were living in two neighboring Garden Grove motels. The Garden Grove motels are in one of only three locations in Orange County that are not within 2,000 feet of a school or park as mandated by the recently passed Prop. 83 — Jessica’s Law. The other two are in Costa Mesa and Anaheim. Local school officials confirmed that up to 20 local school children reside in the very same motels.

Because of the high numbers of sex offenders residing in such close proximity, the local school districts sent a notice to parents and contacted those living in the same motels to make sure they received the information being distributed by police.

A local newspaper spoke to a 14-year-old honor student at Johnson Middle School who lives with his siblings in one of the Garden Grove motels. He summed up the problem articulately.

“It’s gross,” he said. “I’m probably the only kid in my school that knows about this. Other kids don’t worry about this. They’re just all happy. I worry because someone could kidnap any one of my brothers or sisters.”

All of the opportunity, happiness and prosperity in the world is meaningless if you can’t walk the streets or feel safe at home. Providing for safe schools and neighborhoods is the most important function of government. It is not about whether it is technically legal to place 21 of these predators in on one block — it is about our children, our elderly, our neighborhoods and our schools.

After much behind-the-scenes efforts, and loud public outrage, I am happy to announce to that 14-year-old honors student and the rest of the concerned parents in the neighborhood that by the end of the weekend, 20 of the sex offenders will have left those Garden Grove motels.

According to motel managers and Garden Grove police, the paroled child molesters were asked to leave by motel officials due to the overwhelming community pressure created by the public and media attention. I joined with my colleague in the Assembly, Todd Spitzer, local elected officials and concerned citizens to hold a news conference the very next morning after police “papered” the neighborhood, informing residents of the high number of paroled sex offenders moving in.

I have also expressed my outrage with the California Department of Corrections and, if needed, I am considering a bill that would prohibit the placement of these predators in hotel or motels. The Department’s track record with clustering paroled predators in hotels has been abysmal.

Already within the past 24 months the state has allowed sex offenders to receive taxpayer-subsidized erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra, housed a group of sex offenders near Disneyland, and administrators even lied to investigators and lawmakers, denying any knowledge of the group of high-risk child molesters shuffled among several Los Angeles County motels.

As a strong supporter of Jessica’s Law, Megan’s Law, and “Three-Strikes,” my compassion is for the victims, not the predators.

I have requested an update as soon as it is available from the California Department of Corrections on where these sex offenders have re-registered. While it was inappropriate to cluster 21 predators in Garden Grove, it is just as inappropriate to put such a high burden on any other California neighborhood.

The bottom line here is keeping our neighborhoods safe. I understand the importance of proper notification to both the residents and local law enforcement to allow them to prepare for the presence of such a parolee in their area, but no notification can prepare you for almost enough predators for two full basketball teams of child molesters on your block.