Sex Offender Cary Jay Smith Returns To Costa Mesa After Several Moves
COSTA MESA (CBSLA) -- After several relocations throughout Southern California, convicted sex offender Cary Jay Smith returned to Costa Mesa on Wednesday.
Police said in a community advisory around 6:30 p.m. that they've learned Smith is staying at a healthcare facility in Costa Mesa.
He was also temporarily in the city days earlier and had additionally stopped in Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Corona, Lake Elsinore and other locations throughout Riverside, San Diego and Orange counties.
It is unclear where he will permanently reside but there has been much public interest in his locations since his controversial release from a state mental hospital last week.
Smith was first admitted in 1999 after his wife gave authorities a letter she said he wrote detailing sex acts he fantasized about having with a 7-year-old boy.
He 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 for an unknown reason, prompting officials and locals to urge the governor to reinstate it.
Police have been giving the public updates about his whereabouts but also say he is not being formally supervised or bound by any restrictions despite his criminal past.
