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Megan's Law Sex Offender Makes New Bid For Freedom

SANTA ANA (AP) — A convicted child molester who became the public face of Megan's Law in the 1990s has made another bid for freedom.

The Orange County Register said Friday that a judge will decide this month whether to grant Sid Landau's petition for another trial.

It would be the fourth such trial in two years for the 70-year-old Landau. His last jury decided in 2008 to keep him at Coalinga State Hospital.

Landau has been held since 2000 under a statute that allows authorities to keep some sex offenders in custody after prison.

He was convicted of molesting two boys in the 1980s and became one of California's most recognizable pedophiles in the 1990s when police enforcing Megan's Law for the first time passed out fliers identifying him as a sex offender.

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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