Was this a California Abberation?

The question we need to ask ourselves and the state criminal justice association is whether Texas has taken steps to insure that this is not something that happens routinely. Are we keeping tabs on sexual predators and seeing that they are monitored for the safety of our children and our community.

Review Set Over Case of Molester

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: March 12, 2010

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SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered a review of the way the state handled a molesting case involving a man who is now charged with murdering one California teenager and is under investigation in another killing.

Pool photo by John Gibbins, via Associated Press

John A. Gardner III, who spent five years in prison for molesting a 13-year-old, has now been charged with killing a teenager.

The order came a day after The Associated Press reported that the man, John A. Gardner III, could have been sent back to prison in 2007 for parole violations and evaluated for possible commitment to a mental hospital as a sexually violent predator.

“We must learn from what happened in this case to make sure the public is protected,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said Friday in a statement detailing his order to the State Sex Offender Management Board.

Mr. Gardner, 30, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Chelsea King, 17, whose body was found early this month in San Diego County. He is also a suspect in the killing of Amber Dubois, 14, who disappeared as she walked to school in Escondido early last year. No charges have been filed in that case.

Mr. Gardner pleaded guilty in 2000 to molesting a 13-year-old neighbor. He spent five years in prison and three years on parole before being released from supervision in September 2008.

Parole records showed that he could have been sent back to prison in 2007 and 2008 for violations that included living too close to a day care center.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has said it is trying to determine if actions regarding Mr. Gardner’s parole were consistent with policy and the law.

“We are taking every appropriate step to review these case factors to determine if these potential infractions warranted a return to prison on their merits,” Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said in a statement.

Oscar Hidalgo, a spokesman for the department, has said Mr. Gardner had been considered a low- or moderate-risk sex offender, based on the assessment in use at the time.

Mr. Gardner was not sent back to prison in 2007 because he corrected the residency violation by moving, Mr. Hidalgo said.