Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

A 31-year-old mother is facing drug charges and charges of child endangerment in Los Angeles after authorities say they found six bags of heroin in her 14-year-old's pants, according to the L.A. Times.

Child abuse defense lawyers in Los Angeles understand the challenges of representing parents facing drug charges, substance abuse allegations or other issues resulting in a child abuse grievance hearing.

The case here is two-fold. Certainly the charge of heroin possession will need to be aggressively defended against. But as problematic are the allegations of child abuse. Once child welfare authorities are involved in your family's affairs, it can be difficult or impossible to rid yourselves of them. And it can take years. The bureaucracy can be a nightmare and your rights are always best protected by consulting an experienced attorney.

In this case, the drugs were found in the boy's pants during a traffic stop. An experienced defense attorney in Los Angeles will certainly challenge the probable cause for conducting a search of the child. Police contend the mother admitted to hiding the drugs in her son's pants. The boy, and his 11-year-old brother, were released into the custody of child protective services.

Police contend she told them she was transporting the drugs "this one time" to help pay the rent. She was charged with possession of heroin for sale, transporting heroin, child endangerment and inducing a child to transport heroin. Authorities allege there is evidence she had been selling the heroin, which will also be challenged by a defense attorney. Allegations of selling heroin are more serious than possession.

In other news, eight suspects have been arrested in San Bernardino County, after a raid turned up $90,000 in cash and two pounds of drugs, including cocaine and heroin. The group is accused of being gang-affiliated drug dealers connected to narcotic sales in Los Angeles, Victorville, Apple Valley, Hesperia and Indio, according to a report in the Mercury News.

Continue reading "Los Angeles Child Abuse Charges Stem from Heroin Bust " »

An elementary school teacher is facing child pornography charges in Los Angeles, the Times reported.

Such charges can be devastating. Job loss, loss of reputation and the estrangement of friends and family frequently result. More than many other types of charges, you are deemed guilty until proven innocent and a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney will need to move aggressively on all fronts in the fight for your freedom and your reputation.

Additionally, the consequences of sex-offender registration can haunt you for years to come, requiring that you register with authorities or face additional legal problems, and in some cases even requiring that your neighbors be individually notified of your presence in the community.

In this case, the 53-year-old Carson elementary teacher is accused of posting and distributing pornography over the Internet and has been placed on unpaid leave as he faces the charges in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The advent of the Internet has seen an explosion in such crimes. The U.S. Department of Justice reports that more computer crimes originate in California and Florida than anywhere else in the nation. When it comes to child pornography, there have been documented cases of computer viruses and file-sharing networks being responsible for the presences of illicit images on a computer. Additionally, other users, including teenagers, may have been responsible for images found on a homeowner's computer.

The L.A. Unified's Dominguez Elementary teacher was home when a search warrant was served on his computer. Police say he admitted to downloading and viewing images of child pornography. Police seized several computers and DVDs from the residence.

He is charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one county of child pornography.

A defendant facing charges involving sex crimes in L.A. or the surrounding area should not speak to investigators and should instead seek out the assistance of an experienced defense attorney as soon as possible -- even before charges are filed. Whether the defendant made an admission in this case will be for the court to decide, certainly whatever statement he did make is being characterized by law enforcement as a confession.

Exercising your right to remain silent is a good first step toward building a defense.

Continue reading "School teacher charged with computer crimes, child pornography in Los Angeles" »

Today's high profile cases of crimes against children have resulted in a hyper vigilance in the community against child abuse. Although this is a positive step in our society, it can create a state of heightened anxiety with resulting false accusations.

Those accused of child molestation, abuse or sexual assault crimes are despised, ostracized and/or shunned by society--whether or not the accusation is false. The mere mention or suspicion of child molestation or sexual assault crimes are enough to have someone forced out of their community or expelled from his/her profession. A conviction could mean a lifetime registration as a child sex offender.

It is illegal for anyone to file a false report of child abuse, but regrettably, it happens every day. Even though more than half of reported abuse cases are false, this offense has the highest conviction rate of all felony crimes. The law is written to protect children first, so even though you may be completely innocent, you will need to defend yourself.

If you get caught in this nightmare, even though you are completely innocent, the first step you must take no matter how painful is to acknowledge the seriousness of the charges. If you feel you do not need to worry because no one could possibly have a case against you, you are putting yourself at risk. It is startling how fast these situations can spin out of control. The consequences for a conviction for this crime can be permanent, so it is crucial to protect yourself and your children immediately.

You need to find a lawyer experienced with these types of charges. Don't speak to any officials except your attorney about the case. Even if you have not been officially charged, you need to be prepared in case you are eventually arrested.

If you have been falsely accused or suspected of child abuse or molestation, or you're being investigated or charged formally of a crime against children, it is critically important to entrust your case to an experienced attorney who understands the law and how to defend these types of cases.

Whatever you do, do not attempt to handle this matter on your own or with advice from family members. If you have been contacted by the police for an interview, do NOT speak to them unless your attorney is present. Anything you say to the police can and will be used against you.

In California, Megan's Law "requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency," explains Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. Megan's Law also "makes it possible for people to get information about the identity and address of registered sex offenders," the experienced lawyer noted. As an aid to concerned parents and California citizens, Rodriguez provides a link to both California's and national registered sex offender databases on his website.

Megan's Laws have been initiated in all 50 states. Created in response to the brutal rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka by a neighbor who was a convicted child molester, many feel Megan's Law has been instrumental in protecting children from sexual predators and in finding those who commit sexual offenses against children. So why didn't Megan's Law help Jaycee Lee Dugard sooner?

Kidnapped at the age of 11, Jaycee was raped and kept confined in a rustic backyard compound for 18 years by Phillip Garrido (see our Sep. 23 post). Garrido, who served 10 years in prison for a 1970s kidnapping and rape, was registered on California's sex offender registry. Even while keeping Jaycee captive, Garrido checked in with local authorities as required by California law and reported to a parole officer for the 1970's rape.

While citizens believe that registration means sex offenders are well monitored by police, the reality is that law enforcement resources are seriously overwhelmed. In Contra Costa County where Garrido resided there are 1,700 registered sex offenders and more than 65,000 registered throughout California. Registered sex offenders include both people arrested for the most heinous sexual crimes against children and those arrested for minor crimes like exposure, making it difficult to distinguish the degree of risk posed by an individual.

Many question whether Megan's Law actually deters sexual predation against children. As recently pointed out by an intriguing New York Times article on the limitations of sex offender registries, it may simply be forcing predators like Garrido to relocate in rural areas where their activities are less visible.

For more information on Megan's Law, links to sex offender registries and tips for protecting your children, visit L.A. attorney Stephen Rodriguez' Megan's Law website.

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The discovery of Jaycee Lee Dugard living in makeshift tents behind a home in Antioch, California 18 years after her abduction shocked the country. Snatched from a school bus stop near her South Lake Tahoe, CA home in 1991 when she was 11, Dugard had been held in isolation by a convicted sex offender who fathered two children with her, one when she was only 14. Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, were arrested. Garrido, charged with kidnapping, raping and imprisoning Dugard, is now suspected in the kidnapping and disappearance of two California 13-year-olds in the late 1980s.

With a twisted history of sexual abuse and drug use, Garrido became fanatical about religion in the 1970s. Imprisoned in 1977 for kidnapping and repeatedly raping a Reno, Nevada woman, he told a police psychiatrist, "I have been brought to God." It was his religious fervor that eventually led to Dugard's discovery and rescue and Garrido's arrest. His odd behavior while seeking a permit to hold a religious rally at UC-Berkley made officials suspicious, triggering events that led to his arrest.

Child molesters often turn to religion to rationalize their actions, Ken Lanning, a former FBI profiler specializing in kidnapping and child abuse cases, told the Associated Press. "A lot of them, when they're molesting children, put a lot of time and energy into trying to convince themselves that they're not bad people," Lanning said. "In some cases, the element of religion will come into it, and they will use varying aspect of their religious belief to justify all of this."

In conversations with neighbors and business clients and in police interviews before his arrest, Garrido repeatedly talked about finding God. The Reno woman he raped in 1977 said he preached about God and Jesus while he was raping her.

On Friday: Why Megan's Law didn't help Jaycee Dugard sooner.

Since the tragic death of her sister, Nicole Brown Simpson, wife of former football star and actor O.J. Simpson, Denise Brown has devoted her career to fighting domestic violence (see our April 29 post). As in the case of her sister, Brown says that domestic violence usually happens behind closed doors. Victims ravaged by shame and fear rarely even confide in their friends or family. Increased financial strain and job loss due to the current economic crisis have increased reports of domestic violence in California.

"Violence directed at loves ones is against the law," warns expert Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriquez. "Being married, divorced, or dating someone does not entitle you to hit, threaten, or abuse those at home. In California, this type of violence/abuse is considered domestic violence and can be charged as either a felony or misdemeanor, depending on the extent of the violence and type of injury," explains the experienced criminal defense lawyer.

In California, Rodriguez explains, domestic violence cases are handled differently than other criminal cases. Specially designated prosecutors and Domestic Violence Units aggressively prosecute those charged. Charges can be difficult to impossible to drop, even with the victim's consent. Once the state becomes involved in a domestic violence case, it has the ability to step in on behalf of the victim, including children, and prosecute the offender independently of the victim's efforts or desires. Besides acts of physical assault and abuse, domestic violence can include threats, intimidation, harassing phone calls, stalking, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, financial abuse, social abuse and child abuse. For a full list of possible domestic violence charges, visit the website of Stephen G. Rodriquez & Associates.

The seriousness of each case, prior incidents and injuries determine whether a domestic violence case is prosecuted as a misdemeanor or felony. Misdemeanor conviction can require a short jail sentence, counseling, community service or physical labor, fines and court orders restricting contact. Felony conviction carries similar but more onerous sentences and can increase jail time to 3 months to 3 years in a state prison.

Because California law regarding domestic violence is so complex and highly specialized, it is important to contact an experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorney immediately if you are charged with domestic violence. The expert criminal defense attorneys at the law offices of Rodriguez, Lewis & Kahn can help victims file Protective Orders if they feel they are in danger and can also represent defendants charged with domestic violence violations. Call today for expert advice about your domestic violence case.

Since her sister's tragic death on June 12, 1994, Denise Brown has devoted her professional life to fighting domestic violence in California and across the U.S. The savage murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman at Nicole's suburban Los Angeles home 15 years ago, the highly publicized murder trial of Nicole's husband, former football star and actor O.J. Simpson, and his subsequent acquittal led Brown to organize a foundation dedicated to ending domestic violence that bears her sister's name, the Nicole Brown Foundation.

Today, Brown regularly leaves the foundation's California headquarters to cross the country on behalf of her mission to halt domestic violence. On the eve of a recent address to the nonprofit Columbus (OH) Coalition Against Family Violence, Brown told Columbus Dispatch reporter Jeffry Sheban that the family's resolve to fight domestic violence stemmed from accounts of physical abuse the family found in her sister's diaries after Nicole's murder. "... we found her notes and diaries describing physical attacks," she told Sheban in a telephone interview published April 28, 2009. "My mother and I went to a women's shelter here in Laguna Beach and asked all the 'why' questions: Why didn't we know, and why didn't she tell us?"

The problem is typical in domestic abuse cases, law enforcement authorities say. Intimidation, fear and embarrassment often prevent domestic abuse victims from seeking help, even from their own families. Brown said she and her family were unaware of the cycle of violence that permeated her sister's life. "There are three things that I've learned from victims," she told the Dispatch, "hope, shame and fear -- hope that it will get better; shame of not wanting others to know; and fear in not knowing what to do, especially if there are children involved." Brown said four women die from domestic violence every day.

Problems caused by economic stress have increased incidents of domestic violence across the U.S., Brown told the Dispatch. "Right now, because of our economic times, we're seeing that domestic violence is increasing because people are losing their jobs and homes, and can't pay their bills. Violence escalates because it's somebody's fault. Suicide rates have increased as well." Brown encourages all victims of domestic violence to speak up and seek help. "I don't want a tragedy like outs to happen to another family," she said.

Friday: What happens to domestic violence abusers in California?

In a case that defies understanding, 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby was charged yesterday with the kidnapping, rape and murder of her daughter's 8-year-old playmate. Sandra Cantu's body was found stuffed in a suitcase and dumped in a pond not far from her Stockton, California home. The suitcase has been identified as belonging to Huckaby. Huckaby, a Sunday school teacher and granddaughter of a local Baptist minister, cried as the judge read the charges. If convicted of all counts, Huckaby could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Members of this small northern California community are shocked. While Huckaby has not yet entered a plea, she told a reporter the suitcase in which Cantu was found is hers, although she said the suitcase had been stolen the day before Cantu disappeared. Huckaby was arrested hours after that interview. Cantu was last seen on a surveillance camera video playing outside the mobile home park where her family lived just five doors from the mobile home Huckaby and her daughter share with her grandparents. A 10-day search for the girl ended on April 6 when farm workers found the suitcase containing Cantu's body in an irrigation pond.

Huckaby's family described her to the press as a loving mother with a strong religious background and seemed particularly distressed by reports that Cantu was raped with a foreign object. Tragically, it is doubtful that Megan's Law could have helped prevent the rape and murder of little Sandra Cantu. Megan's Law "requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency," explained expert Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. Huckaby has no known prior record of sexual predation and was not required to register as a sexual offender.

The Cantu case points out one of the major problems with Megan's Law. The law helps parents keep their children safe only from known and registered sex offenders. There is no protection against first-time or undiscovered sexual predators until after they have harmed a child and been convicted of the crime. In California, convicted sex offenders must register with law enforcement agencies within 5 days of being released from prison and any time they change their address or name. They are also required to update registration information every year, defense attorney Rodriguez noted, adding that the most violent predators may be required to update their information more frequently.

As a service to the public, the law offices of experienced Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers Rodriguez, Lewis & Kahn maintain a helpful Megan's Law webpage with useful information about Megan's Law and helpful links to registered sex offender databases in California and throughout the U.S.

A new federally-funded study on sex offenses concludes that Megan's Law hasn't deterred repeat sexual offenders and that costs associated with implementing the law may not be justified. Conducted in New Jersey, the state that initiated the now nationwide Megan's Law campaign, the study found that while Megan's Law has made it easier to find sex offenders, it hasn't changed the types of sex crimes committed or decreased the number of victims.

Named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl raped and murdered in 1994 by a neighbor who had twice been convicted of sexual offenses, Megan's Laws have been enacted in all 50 states. California's Megan's Law "requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency, and makes it possible for people to get information about the identity and address of registered sex offenders," explains expert Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. As an aid to Los Angeles and California residents, Rodriguez has created a Megan's Law website with links to California's registered sex offender database, links to Megan's Law data bases in other states, useful information about how sexual offenses are prosecuted in California, and valuable tips on protecting your children from sexual predators.

Conducted by the New Jersey Department of Corrections with Rutgers University, the new study used statistical data to evaluate the effect of Megan's law on state crime rates. The study found that while New Jersey spent approximately half a million dollars implementing Megan's Law in 1995, annual costs had climbed to $4 million by 2007. Given the high costs of implementation and negligible effect as a deterrent, some budget-strapped states are taking a closer look at the value of Megan's Law.

However, Megan's mother, Maureen Kanka, told Associated Press reporter Beth DeFalco that Megan's Law was never intended to change sexual predator behavior. "It was to provide an awareness to the public, which it has done." Kanka contends that making parents aware of sexual predators in their midst enables them to better protect their children. Study author, Kristen Zgoba, a research supervisor for the New Jersey Corrections Department, disagreed, telling DeFalco that awareness does not increase safety. "There's no other way to increase safety other than to decrease the likelihood of these crimes taking place."

The study concluded that while registration and notification programs can be helpful, rehabilitation programs for offenders or programs that remove them from the population are more productive. New Jersey's aggressive civil commitment of repeat sex offenders may be more responsible than Megan's Law for the state's sex crimes reduction over the last decade.

Megan's Law was created in the face of tragedy after 7-year-old Megan Kanka of New Jersey was brutally raped and killed by a neighbor who was a known child molester. Megan's parents had no knowledge of the man's background and no reason to be on the alert or warn their daughter -- until it was too late. Devastated by what had happened to their child, the Kanka's lobbied tirelessly to give other parents the tools to protect their children from sexual predators.

Megan's Law requires convicted sex offenders to register with law enforcement agencies. It also makes it possible for the public to obtain information about the identities and addresses of registered sex offenders. But parents must be ever vigilante. More than 90% of children are molested by someone they know.

Today, we offer additional tips for keeping your children safe.

• Never leave children unattended in an automobile, not even to run in and out of a store.


• Teach your children never to talk to anyone in a car or accept a ride from anyone they don't know and trust.


• Teach your children never to go anywhere with anyone without getting your permission first.


• Be an active participant in your children's activities.


• Listen to your children. Pay attention if your child doesn't want to be with someone or go somewhere.


• Notice people who pay too much attention to your child.


• Teach your children that they always have the right to say no to unwelcome, uncomfortable or confusing touching or actions by others, including adults. Teach them to tell you immediately if this happens and take their fears seriously.


• Be sensitive to changes in your child's behavior or attitude.


• When your children confide in you, remain calm and try not to criticize or judge. Help your children solve the problem.


• Carefully screen babysitters and caregivers.


• Don't allow your children to wear clothing or carry items displaying their name. Predators can use your child's name to create a false impression of familiarity and engage your child in conversation.

You can find more information about Megan's Law and links to state and national sexual predator locators on the California Attorney General's Megan's Law website. As an aide to parents and the public, Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez has also created a special Megan's Law website containing valuable information about Megan's Law and useful links to additional registered sex offender resources.

To protect our children from the violence of sexual predators, every state in the U. S. now has a Megan's Law in place, including California. California's Megan's Law requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency. The law also makes it possible for the public to obtain the identity and addresses of registered sex offenders. Most states track the locations of registered sex offenders on easily accessible Internet websites. California's sex offender registry is managed by the office of the state's Attorney General.

Proactive in its efforts to halt sexual predators from preying on children, California has required sex offenders to register with local law enforcement offices for 50 years, but it was not until the enaction of Megan's Law that the information was readily available to the public. Unfortunately, Megan's Law tracks only convicted sexual offenders. Parents must educate their children and maintain family vigilance to ensure their children's safety.

The California Attorney General's Megan's Law website recommends parents take the following actions to protect their children from sexual predation:

• Inform your children that it is wrong for adults to engage children in sexual activity.


• Stress to your child that he should tell you if anything happens that makes him feel uncomfortable, especially if an adult is involved.


• Get to know the people your child spends time with, particularly the parents of their friends.


• Teach your children about their bodies and the correct words to use when describing private parts. Emphasize that those parts are private.


• Know where your children are at all times. Be clear about places and homes your children are allowed to visit. Make sure your children tell you where they are going when they leave home and check in when they arrive or depart their destination and when plans change. If your child is abducted, the sooner the police are alerted, the better the chance of a positive outcome.


• Set an example for your child by always telling him when your plans change or when you are running late. Emphasize that such family rules are for everyone's safety.

For more information on Megan's Law and useful links to California, state and federal sex offender registration sites, please visit the website of Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer Stephen Rodriguez.

Megan Kanka was a typical 7-year-old, full of fun and life and excitement for the surprises that came with each new day. On July 29, 1994, she spent the morning riding her bike in the summer sunshine. She was excited when her neighbor offered to show her his new puppy. A day later, New Jersey police found Megan's battered body in a nearby park. She had been raped, beaten and strangled with a belt.

Three years later, in 1997, Megan's 36-year-old neighbor Jesse Timmendequas, a previously convicted sex offender, was sentenced to death in a New Jersey courtroom. Outside the courtroom, Megan's grief-stricken parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka met the press. "He will never, ever, ever get out to harm another little girl," Megan's mother said.

From that horrible tragedy was born Megan's Law which, in California, requires convicted sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agency. The law makes it possible for citizens to obtain information about the identities and addresses of registered sex offenders through an internet database. The California Megan's Law site is administered by the Office of the Attorney General. It allows people to locate registered sex offenders by name, address, city, zip code and county. It also locates registered sex offenders who live near parks and schools.

In California, you must register as a sex offender if you are convicted of sexual battery, rape including sodomy without consent, kidnapping or assaulting a person to commit rape or certain other sexual offenses, prostitution involving a minor, sexual acts with a child under the age of 14 including sodomy, incest, possession of child pornography and indecent exposure. Offenders must register "within 5 days of being released from prison and then any time they change their address or name, explains criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. Registrations must be updated at lease annually, more often for those considered violent predators. In California, Megan's Law also requires juveniles convicted of similar crimes to register as sex offenders. However, as Rodriguez points out, juvenile "registration information cannot be disclosed to the public unless the juvenile is a threat to the community."

For complete information about California's Megan's Law, access to the Attorney General's registered sexual offender databases, links for locating sexual predators in other states, and information on how to protect your children from sexual predators, visit criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez's Megan's Law website.

In 2007, New Jersey abolished the death penalty after a state commission ruled it "inconsistent with evolving standards of decency." Jesse Timmendequas, now 47, was one of eight men waiting on death row whose sentences were commuted by Governor Jon Corzine to life in prison without parole.

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Answering domestic violence calls are among the most hazardous of their duties, say Los Angeles police officers. The volatile emotions unleashed when families are at war with each other escalate the risk of serious -- and sometimes deadly -- violence. For sheer personal risk, many officers equate answering a domestic violence call to intervening at an armed robbery.

In California last year, police officers answered 174,264 domestic violence calls and made 43,911 domestic violence arrests. Under California law, explains Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez, domestic violence is defined as abusive behavior towards a past or present intimate partner, including spouses, ex-spouses, people who are dating, and people who have a child together, whether or not they are married or living together. Domestic violence also includes abusive behavior towards an adult family member or child. Rodriguez notes that, under California law, a child does not have to suffer direct abuse but can be considered a victim of domestic violence simply by witnessing domestic abuse. In such cases, Rodriguez says, child endangerment can be charged under California's domestic violence laws.

Also called spousal abuse, family violence and domestic abuse, domestic violence can take many forms, including physical abuse, threatened violence, emotional abuse and child abuse. California's laws governing domestic violence are complex. Depending on the extent and severity of the victim's injuries and the offender's criminal record, domestic violence defendants can be charged with either a misdemeanor or felony. A history of family violence can escalate a misdemeanor charge to a felony.

As do most states these days, California deals harshly with domestic violence offenders. Society's emphasis is on protecting the victims. If concerned about an individual's or child's safety, police are likely to arrest and remove the offender to protect the victims. Even when the truth of the matter is difficult to determine and blame may exist on both sides, as it often does, police often arrest the individual perceived to be physically stronger just to deescalate emotions. The lawyers are left to sort things out.

If you are charged with domestic violence, it is critical that you immediately contact an experienced domestic violence criminal defense attorney to represent you. Most domestic violence occurs privately within the home. Emotions escalate out of control and there is no uninvolved, calm third party to tell what happened. Only the participants truly know what occurred. Many domestic violence cases get down to a "she said," "he said" defense. It can be easy for an angry spouse or partner to "embellish" the facts to protect him- or herself at the expense of the defendant. A criminal defense attorney experienced in handling volatile domestic violence disputes can protect your interests and make sure the court gets the real facts.

Sex offender registries are often inaccurate and incomplete, federal investigators found during a recent audit. Due to incompatibility between some state registries and the FBI's national registry, 22% of state-identified sex offenders go unreported to the national data base. U.S. Justice Department investigators warned that inaccurate and missing data are preventing police and the public from accurately identifying dangerous pedophiles and other sex crimes offenders in their communities.

"As a result, members of the public will not have the information they need to assess the threat posed by sex offenders in their communities," cautioned a statement issued by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General.

With 114,000 registered sex offenders, twice that of Florida and 10 times that of North Carolina, California leads the nation in number of registered sexual predators. Errors in the state or national data base may put communities at risk but may also unfairly target innocent individuals, warned criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez.

Since the mid-1990s multiple sex offender registries have sprung up across the nation, including the National Sex Offenders Registry maintained by the FBI and individual state registries operated by each of the 50 states. There are wide variations in the information included, who may use the directories, how they can be searched and how locations are reported. For example, California provides sex offender locations by proximity to local parks or schools. North Carolina locates offenders by less helpful latitude and longitude.

Investigators also found that some state files are rejected by the national data base due to inconsistencies in data reporting and formatting. They concluded that sex offender records are "inconsistent and incomplete."

"Neither law enforcement officials nor the public can rely on the registries for identifying registered sex offenders, particularly those who are fugitives," investigators concluded. The audit revealed that some communities purposely omit warrant information from registry data to avoid the expense of extraditing undesirable fugitives they don't want living among them. Some communities also omitted data to avoid revealing that a large number of sex offenders reside within their boundaries.

Inaccurate registry data hampers police investigations and places community residents at risk. It also unfairly stigmatizes individuals who are inaccurately reported to be sex offenders. Under a law passed in 2006, states have until next year to meet national sex-offender registration standards.

Child abuse as a crime carries serious consequences, and it also serious affects the children involved. The State of California created child welfare programs to try and deal with both the crime and the consequences to the children involved. A recent bunch of arrests have netted people accused of defrauding child welfare services of a great deal of money. Six people suspected of allegedly defrauding child care welfare programs of more than $1 million were arrested Friday.

A total of nine defendants, including a county employee of the agency that administers welfare programs, are charged in three separate cases, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Beatrice Harvey, 28, was arrested Nov. 26 at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services office in Lancaster, where she works, officials said.

She has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed on $181,000 bail.

Harvey allegedly applied for and received more than $136,000 in aid between Nov. 30, 2001, and June 30, 2006. She allegedly failed to report that she was married and that her husband was fully employed by the county Department of Children and Family Services, the District Attorney's Office reported.

Harvey is due at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse next Monday. She is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require her to stand trial on one felony count of grand theft of personal property and five felony counts of perjury by declaration.

Those arrested Friday by investigators from the District Attorney's Office were:

• Erica Manesha Dunn, 27, of North Hills;


• Tammi Howard, 41, of Los Angeles;


• Sannice Lavette Arthur, 41, of Los Angeles;


• Cedric Dale, 41, and Darlene Jenkins, 46, who were arrested near Fort Worth, Texas.


• Greta Marie Brown, 36, who was arrested in Long Beach.

Prosecutors allege Dunn, Howard and Arthur allegedly collected more than $665,000 for child care services that were not provided.

Dale is charged with orchestrating the theft of more than $340,000 of child care funds with Jenkins and Brown. The three allegedly worked with defendants connected with Harvey, according to the District Attorney's Office.