Sunnyvale: Trespass charge dropped against sex offender

3-11-2014 California:

SUNNYVALE -- Citing a case of mistaken identity, prosecutors dropped charges against a registered sex offender from San Jose who was accused of illegally trespassing on school property.

Theodore Lorigo, 42, was arrested on Jan. 23 based on tips from Los Gatos police that he had walked onto the Sunnyvale Hebrew Day School campus a month before. He was identified by school employees after watching surveillance video.

However, Deputy District Attorney Rebekah Wise said on Monday that after further review, the trespassing charge was dismissed.

"We did follow up and determined he was not the person who was on campus," Wise said.

She said they had sufficient evidence to make the initial arrest, including Lorigo being picked out of a photo lineup. But he was ruled out after "we later covered additional avenues."

Lorigo, who also goes by Francine and Francis and dresses as a woman, pleaded guilty to having a forged identification and was sentenced to time served.

According to the Megan's Law website, Lorigo was convicted of "kidnapping a child under the age of 14 years old with intent to commit lewd or lascivious acts."

In 1994, Lorigo was charged with luring a 9-year-old girl into his car after offering to sell her a dog he was walking. The girl got out of the car when it stopped and ran away. Two other girls said they had also been approached by a man driving a matching car who asked them to help find his lost puppy. ..Source.. by Eric Kurhi