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Published on 10/05/1998 All articles from this issue

Chief meets with neighbors about sex offender

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

The 40 neighbors who packed a Los Altos living room heaved a collective sigh of relief when they learned what their neighbor had done to become a registered sex offender. He had grabbed the right buttock of a woman last December in a Palo Alto park, then pedaled away on his bicycle.

Relief in the room was palpable. People had heard "registered sex offender" and imagined someone who molested children or was a pedophile.

This man "does not want your children," said Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton. Currently he is in custody.

Carlton and Sgt. Mark Macaulay met with residents at an Oct. 5 neighborhood meeting to explain how Megan's Law and disclosure works.

The law was named for a New Jersey girl who was murdered by a convicted sex offender living in her neighborhood.

These concerns erupted recently in Los Altos when neighbors learned that a man living in the 400 block of San Luis Avenue was arrested in Palo Alto on charges of peeping. And he was a registered sex offender.

Residents wanted to know why they weren't notified that a registered sex offender lived in their area.

Carlton and Macaulay explained that Santa Clara County law enforcement protocol says that a notification is made usually only for high risk offenders.

If a high risk offender moved to Los Altos, "We'd do a notification of the community," Carlton assured the neighbors.

Of the four registered sex offenders living in the city of Los Altos, none are high risk, Macaulay said.

The 70,000 registered sex offenders in the state of California fall into three categories: high risk, serious and "other."

High risk means there were two or more felonies, one of which was sex related, Macaulay said.

Serious can mean a person was convicted of a sexual battery for grabbing a buttock, all the way to a rape or child molestation.

The "other" category includes indecent exposure.

The Megan's Law CD ROM makes available information on registered sex offenders.

One can look up an offender by name or by zip code. No addresses are given.

Peeping is not a registered sexual offense, Macaulay said, because it is usually a "prelude to burglary."

For more information about seeing the Megan's Law CD, call the police department at 948-8223.