'Unconscionable': Orange County DA, Supervisor Call On Governor Newsom To Intervene In Release Of Sex Offender
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer and county Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel want Gov. Gavin Newsom to intervene in the release of a man they say is a sexual predator.
Cary Jay Smith, 59, is scheduled to be released in Orange County this week. He was sent to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino in 1999 after describing in a letter the sex acts he wanted to perform on a 7-year-old boy who lived in his Costa Mesa neighborhood.
"I'm so sad, and I'm so angry," said Lynn Rinner, the boy's mother. "There's too many kids that are in danger. This guy...it's not 'if' he is going to offend. He will offend again."
According to the District Attorney's Office, Smith has been held by the state since 1999 after he was determined to present a "demonstrated danger of inflicting substantial physical harm" to children. Smith's custody is re-evaluated every six months, and officials say he has repeatedly testified during those hearings about fantasizing about raping then killing young boys. He has also claimed to have killed three boys, molested 200, and prefers to go by the name Mr. RTK, an acronym standing for "rape, torture, kill."
"This sexual predator has repeatedly testified under oath that he will re-offend if he is released and we should believe him," Spitzer said in a statement.
Smith was required to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to a 1985 misdemeanor sexual offense involving a child. That registration requirement was removed in 2005, and Steel and Spitzer are urging the governor to reinstate it.
The hold against Smith was allowed to expire Saturday. Smith is expected to return to Orange County, where he used to live and still has ties.
"The fact that he is being released back into our community is unconscionable," Steel said in a statement. "We must take this threat to our community very seriously and ensure that everyone in Orange County is aware of this individual's grave threat to our children."
