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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294004,00.html
California Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Admitted Pedophile Blogger Due
to Judge's Error
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges against a
self-described pedophile who was arrested last week after he allegedly
violated an order that prohibited him from being within 30 feet of children.
Prosecutors opted not to pursue charges against Jack McClellan after they
determined the judge who issued the order failed to set a hearing to argue
its merits and had not given the 45-year-old transient proper notice.
McClellan was released from jail Tuesday following a court hearing. A cell
phone message left for him was not immediately returned.
"We determined the judge had acted improperly by failing to comply with the
notice and hearing requirements for issuing a three-year order," said Nick
Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney's office.
McClellan was arrested Aug. 13 for investigation of violating the order when
he was found near a child care facility at the University of California, Los
Angeles. He had a camera with him at the time, but he told a local TV
station that there was not any film in it.
McClellan was arrested again - several hours later - this time for
trespassing after he did an interview with the TV station on school grounds.
He had been told not to return to the campus after his first arrest.
Prosecutors did not pursue the trespassing charges.
Two orders were issued by Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig earlier this
month, which came as news to city prosecutors who believed as late as Friday
there had been only one.
The first was a temporary restraining order that did not allow McClellan to
come within 10 yards of children in Santa Clarita in northern Los Angeles
County, authorities said. The order was sought by attorneys Anthony Zinnanti
and Richard Patterson, both parents of young children in that town.
While a hearing was scheduled for Friday on that order, there was not a
hearing set for the second ruling that said McClellan had to stay at least
30 feet away from every person under age 18 in California for a three-year
period, Velasquez said.
Some legal experts said the second order was too broad and infringed on
McClellan's constitutional rights.
McClellan is unemployed and has been living out of his car. He stirred
controversy in Southern California when he arrived earlier this summer from
Washington state, where he had lived with his parents.
McClellan maintained a Web site in Washington where he posted photos of
children he had taken in public places. He also discussed how he liked to
stake out parks, public libraries, fast-food restaurants and other areas
where little girls, or "LGs," congregated.
His server took his Web site down more than a month ago.
McClellan, who said he lives on supplemental security income and suffers
from depression, has maintained that he launched the site as a form of
therapy and would not do anything illegal.
California Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Admitted Pedophile Blogger Due
to Judge's Error
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges against a
self-described pedophile who was arrested last week after he allegedly
violated an order that prohibited him from being within 30 feet of children.
Prosecutors opted not to pursue charges against Jack McClellan after they
determined the judge who issued the order failed to set a hearing to argue
its merits and had not given the 45-year-old transient proper notice.
McClellan was released from jail Tuesday following a court hearing. A cell
phone message left for him was not immediately returned.
"We determined the judge had acted improperly by failing to comply with the
notice and hearing requirements for issuing a three-year order," said Nick
Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney's office.
McClellan was arrested Aug. 13 for investigation of violating the order when
he was found near a child care facility at the University of California, Los
Angeles. He had a camera with him at the time, but he told a local TV
station that there was not any film in it.
McClellan was arrested again - several hours later - this time for
trespassing after he did an interview with the TV station on school grounds.
He had been told not to return to the campus after his first arrest.
Prosecutors did not pursue the trespassing charges.
Two orders were issued by Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig earlier this
month, which came as news to city prosecutors who believed as late as Friday
there had been only one.
The first was a temporary restraining order that did not allow McClellan to
come within 10 yards of children in Santa Clarita in northern Los Angeles
County, authorities said. The order was sought by attorneys Anthony Zinnanti
and Richard Patterson, both parents of young children in that town.
While a hearing was scheduled for Friday on that order, there was not a
hearing set for the second ruling that said McClellan had to stay at least
30 feet away from every person under age 18 in California for a three-year
period, Velasquez said.
Some legal experts said the second order was too broad and infringed on
McClellan's constitutional rights.
McClellan is unemployed and has been living out of his car. He stirred
controversy in Southern California when he arrived earlier this summer from
Washington state, where he had lived with his parents.
McClellan maintained a Web site in Washington where he posted photos of
children he had taken in public places. He also discussed how he liked to
stake out parks, public libraries, fast-food restaurants and other areas
where little girls, or "LGs," congregated.
His server took his Web site down more than a month ago.
McClellan, who said he lives on supplemental security income and suffers
from depression, has maintained that he launched the site as a form of
therapy and would not do anything illegal.
