RENO, NV – Washoe County Sheriff’s Office have two convicted pedophiles in custody after being arrested for failing to register as sex offenders.
One is labeled a “high level” sex offender meaning that he is more likely to reoffend.
Since neither of the two registered, no alert was provided to the neighbors and surrounding area informing them the two are sex offenders. This gives them a chance to commit sex crimes against children again.
The Regional Sex Offender Notification Unit (RSONU) arrested the two convicted sex offenders. The unit was formed in 1988 and is used to bring together surrounding counties and police departments in the Sparks and Reno areas of Nevada.
John Rugaber was convicted of first-degree rape of a child aged 10 or younger and James Gisi was convicted of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 14.
Sex Offenders arrested for non-compliance https://t.co/iMrGYMyepw pic.twitter.com/lpJCd7hwDu
— Washoe Sheriff (@WashoeSheriff) August 25, 2020
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office released a statement:
“John Mark Rugaber, 53, has been arrested by the Regional Sex Offender Notification Unit (RSONU) and is in custody at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Detention Facility. He is charged with failing to register as a sex offender. Rugaber is a convicted “high level” sex offender out of Utah.
He is currently on parole out of California for failing to register. Rugaber is required to register as a sex offender if he resides in the State of Nevada for a period of more than 48 hours.
Rugaber was convicted in February of 1996 for first degree rape of a child older than ten years.
James David Gisi, 30, has also been arrested by the RSONU and is in custody at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Detention Facility.
He is charged with failing to register as a sex offender. Gisi is a Tier III sex offender previously convicted for attempted sexual assault with a minor under the age of 14.
Currently, there are about 1400 registered sex offenders in the Reno, Sparks and Washoe County area. Each of the three investigators are assigned over 400 offenders to monitor.”
In July of this year another convicted sex offender was arrested on the same charges, failing to register, by The Regional Sex Offender Notification Unit (RSONU). The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) stated, David Robert Peek, 55-years-old, was arrested and is a Tier III sex offender who was convicted for crimes against children and attempted sexual assault.
Sex Offender arrested for non-compliance https://t.co/PhWJchw86Z pic.twitter.com/YtduhDWBv1
— Washoe Sheriff (@WashoeSheriff) July 9, 2020
Earlier this month, we brought you a case out of San Leandro, California where a non-complaint sex offender registrant was arrested on suspicion of committing a lewd act with a minor child under the age of 14.
According to reports, the case against the suspect, Ralf Peter Schmidt-Dunker, 45, from San Francisco, was presented Tuesday to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
The case comes following an investigation into a July 4th report of a man who forced his way into a vehicle and kissed a 2-year-old child on the lips before being pulled away by a family member. The San Leandro police Special Victims Unit began investigating the incident after it was reported by the child’s grandmother.
The grandmother was the one who put the child in her car sear before the alleged incident happened. Once the family member pulled Schmidt-Dunker from the 2-year-old, he fled the scene on foot. Based on the description of the suspect provided by the grandmother, investigators were able to identify Schmidt-Dunker as the suspect.
During the investigation, police learned that he had been out of compliance with his sex offender registration requirements for the last three years. According to police, he was arrested without incident at a homeless camp in San Francisco. He remains in custody with no bail at Santa Rita Jail.
Lieutenant Ted Henderson said in a statement:
“Due to the criminal act he committed upon the 2-year-old victim and because he was an out-of-compliance registered sex offender, detectives believed his acts may become more aggressive towards our younger population and wanted to apprehend him quickly.”
He continued:
“We mad this case a top priority and located him in a homeless encampment in San Francisco where he was arrested on probable cause without incident.”
The police are asking that anyone with any additional information related to this investigation or any other possible similar incidents are urged to call the San Leandro Police Department at 510-577-2740.
In another incident, a Michigan sex offender fugitive was arrested in California after a 20-year search. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, James Meece was convicted in 1991 of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and sentenced to three 15 year sentences in prison.
FUGITIVE ALERT: James Meece is a convicted sex offender on the run. After he was released from prison, he didn’t comply…
Posted by In Pursuit with John Walsh on Saturday, March 7, 2020
Meece sexually assaulted the young daughters of a woman he was dating. According to the release, Meece, who was featured in an episode of the TV series, “In Pursuit with John Walsh” this past year threatened to kill them and their mother if they revealed the abuse.
In May 1990, he paroled and was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of if his, but within six months of his release, he absconded. In 2011, the U.S. Marshal Service Eastern District of Michigan adopted the case.
In 2018, investigators learned Meece was linked to a woman in El Monte, California. According to authorities, the couple worked to keep their relationship a secret and the woman used alias for him. When authorities questioned her, she denied knowing Meece, but interviews with neighbors and relatives revealed that she was married to a man named Anthony Bennetti, whose description matched Meece.
Investigators said that Bennetti made claims similar to those by Meece. They said Meece:
“Falsely passed himself off as a U.S. Army Green Beret, a Vietnam Veteran, a prisoner or war, a CIA agent, an FBI agent, a U.S. Marshal, and a member of other law enforcement agencies to gain the trust of women he later raped and defrauded or whose children he sexually assaulted.”
Meece was arrested at the woman’s home without incident. At the scene, officials recovered a sniper rifle and fraudulent identity documents Meece had allegedly used. Own Cypher, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Michigan said:
“This arrest demonstrates the tenacity of U.S. Marshals investigators and everyone who participated in taking this dangerous individual off the streets, not only in the Easter District of Michigan, but also the Central District of California, the Southern District of California, and many components of the agency’s Investigative Operations Division.”
He concluded:
“I am confident without their support, James Meece would still be victimizing women and children.”
Report: Six out of seven recently released sex offenders deemed ‘high risk’ rearrested
May 20, 20202 – ORANGE COUNTY, CA – Back towards the end of April, Law Enforcement Today brought you a story regarding the release of seven high-risk sex offenders from various jails in California after they were locked up for violating the terms of their original releases.
Weeks later, and it looks like six out of that seven have been rearrested.
Report: 6 of 7 ‘High-Risk’ Sex Offenders Freed in California Rearrested https://t.co/FGvcPvJHiE pic.twitter.com/IJ9nwRyZK7
— JEETPOLITIC (@jettpolitic) May 19, 2020
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer was against the whole notion to begin with, in terms of releasing these seven high-risk sex offenders back into the community after they initially failed to abide by their conditional releases.
Perhaps the recent developments regarding the six out of the original seven are exactly why, since they’ve allegedly broken the terms of their conditional releases once again.
While most had reportedly been most-recently accused of the likes of drug possession charges and criminal threats allegations, 39-year-old Rudy William Grajeda Magdaleno allegedly decided to expose himself to employees working within the parole office shortly after his release in April.
Damn, so even Sexual Offenders are deemed high risk for Covid-19?
Is anyone in the country not high risk now?
— Not A Redheaded Libertarian (@BadinBoarder) May 19, 2020
DA Spitzer was not exactly shocked that a majority of this group found themselves in custody once again:
“It comes as no surprise that these high-risk sex offenders continue to violate the law and do everything they can to avoid being tracked by law enforcement.”
In what seems to be a connotation of critique, DA Spitzer made mention of the concept of releasing jailed inmates back onto the streets in light of the ongoing pandemic:
“There is a concerted effort here in California and across the nation to open up the jailhouse doors and let dangerous criminals back into our streets without regard for the safety of the public which we are sworn to protect.”
A half-dozen sex offenders whose early-release from local lockup for parole violations drew condemnation from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer are back behind bars after authorities allege they once again broke the terms of their release.https://t.co/KuDKMwWk4u
— Winston Smith (@fivewincs) May 11, 2020
While there’s something to be said about considering unique solutions to combat the potential spread of COVID-19 within jails and prisons, perhaps an increased degree of scrutiny toward possible releases would lessen the ire coming from community members and officials.
Santa Ana Councilman Phil Bacerra was one of those initially perturbed when word got out about these individuals being released back in April. In a letter to Commissioner Joe Dane, Bacerra noted the following:
“There has not been a need to release additional inmates, particularly dangerous ones, from the jail. Your actions jeopardize the safety and well-being of our community.”
Here’s the original report we ran back in April detailing the seven who were released:
It’s not often that you see a warning issued to residents by a district attorney. This is an exception.
In California on April 28th, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer wanted to let people know that seven registered sex offenders who he said were “high-risk” were recently released from custody early.
Why? To keep them healthy during the ongoing pandemic.
According to Spitzer, these convicts spent “just days” in jail.
The law requires a minimum of six months for those registered as sex offenders.
Not only that, but they’ve apparently also been charged with cutting off their GPS monitors or tampering with their tracking devices.
The warning comes a bit later – they were released beginning on April 7. It came after the rulings by appointed Court Commissioner Joseph Dane, Spitzer said.
The DA went on to call the men “the most dangerous kind of criminal and the most likely to reoffend.”
“These are not the kind of people who should be getting a break,” he said.
Since March 7, the jail population in the county has been reduced by nearly 45%, said Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes.
Now Spitzer says overcrowding isn’t an issue thanks to additional steps taken to make sure inmates are safe during the crisis.
“It is not the court’s responsibility to control the jail population by releasing these dangerous criminals back into our communities,” the DA said.
“The residents of Orange County deserve to have the peace of mind that registered sex offenders are being held accountable and not just let out the front door of a jail by a court commissioner who refuses to follow the law.”
California: Seven ‘High Risk’ Sex Offenders Freed from Jail During Coronavirus Crisishttps://t.co/FzowGqtEPm
— John Binder 👽 (@JxhnBinder) April 30, 2020
Spitzer slammed the move to release the inmates as “dangerous”. He also promised that his office appear in front of Dane on parole violations that involve registered sex offenders.
The two – Spitzer and Barnes – have previously expressed anger about a statewide move for bail to be dropped to zero for many offenders.
Here’s a breakdown of the inmates who were released:
Luis Joel Ramirez, 27, last known address in Costa Mesa.
The DA’s office said the following are included in his criminal history: sexual battery, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting a peace officer, burglary and possessing of a leaded cane, a deadly weapon.
He served 20 days on a parole violation for cutting off his GPS then was released on April 7.
Then he was arrested again on a parole violation for failing to report, served 16 days and was released again on April 24.
James Franklin Bowling, 50, last known address in Bowling.
The DA’s office said his criminal history includes: lewd conduct in a public place, repeated convictions for failing to register as a sex offender, repeated convictions for sex offender on school grounds and possession of controlled substance and paraphernalia.
Since February, he’s had two parole violations. He was released on April 9. That was after serving 14 days on a parole violation for failing to charge his GPS monitoring device.
The DA’s office said he was ordered to report to parole but he “does not report”.
Rudy William Grajeda Magdaleno, 39, last known address in Anaheim.
The DA’s office said his criminal history includes: child molestation, indecent exposure, assault, battery, criminal threats and inflicting injury on an adult.
Since 2017, he’s had five parole violations.
On April 13, he was released after serving 142 days on a parole violation for failing to charge his GPS monitoring device. The DA said he was ordered to report but he “does not report”.
Calvin Curtis Coleman, 52, last known address in Santa Ana.
The DA’s office said his criminal history includes lewd conduct in a public place, and that he’s had three parole violations since 2019. They said he was released on April 13 after serving 18 days on a parole violation after failing to charge his GPS monitoring device, and that he was ordered to report to parole.
Kyle Albert Winton, 40, last from Mission Viejo.
The DA’s office said his criminal history includes: annoying or molesting a child, criminal threats to cause great bodily injury or death, resisting a peace officer and DUI and hit and run with property damage.
Officials say he’s got one parole violation. In April, he was released after serving 10 days on a parole violation for failing to charge his GPS.
Here’s another one who was ordered to report to parole, but who “does not report”.
Jose Adrian Oregel, 46, of Santa Ana.
The DA’s office said his criminal history includes: unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, oral copulation of a person under the age of 18 and causing great bodily injury.
The DA’s office called him a “second striker” who was released on April 22 after serving 18 days for failing to charge his GPS device and was ordered to report to parole.
Mario Ernesto Sandoval, 45, of Stanton.
The DA’s office said his criminal history includes: sexual battery, touching for sexual arousal, indecent exposure, assault on a peace officer and assault.
Officials said he’s had one parole violation in 2020, after he he failed to charge his GPS device and was unaccounted for one-third of the time he was out of custody.
Then he was released on April 22 after serving 16 days on a parole violation. This after failing to report to charge his GPS device and being ordered to report to parole.
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