6-11-2010 California:
On June 9, several residents in Murrieta received a detailed anonymous letter sent to them individually through the U.S. mail.
Murrieta police are trying to find the author of an anonymous letter that was sent to some residents near an elementary school where a registered sex offender was forced to move because of public pressure, said Lt. Dennis Vrooman in a news release.
Additional officers have been assigned to protect some of the residents in the area and at Tovashal Elementary School, said Vrooman, who described the author as angry.
On June 9, several residents in Murrieta received a detailed anonymous letter sent to them individually through the U.S. mail, Vrooman said.
The letter was not mailed to Tovashal elementary school, which is located a few hundred yards from the homes on these streets, but the school was mentioned in the letter, he said. A few residents contacted the police to report the incident later that evening. Because of the proximity to Tovashal elementary school, the Murrieta Valley Unified School District made notification this morning to the parents of the students by phone and e-mail as a precautionary effort through their Connect Ed communication system, Vrooman said.
The author of the letter identifies themselves as a sex offender who was angered at a concerted effort by protesters near Tovashal elementary school which ultimately caused the voluntary relocation of a registered sex offender to move out of the city last month. The letter identifies several residents who spearheaded the effort to lawfully pressure the registered sex offender to relocate, Vrooman said.
The letter is essentially a manifesto in which the author mentions specific violent acts which should be supported by certain factions of society to defend the perceived injustices of convicted sex offenders and child molesters to live anywhere they want with fewer or no societal restrictions, he said. The author laments the existing laws restricting sex offenders, including the residential proximity restrictions to schools and parks.
Murrieta police has solicited the assistance of regional and federal law enforcement agencies to assist in the investigation. Anyone with any information or who may know the identification of the person(s) who authored the letter is asked to call the Murrieta Police Department at 951-696-3615. ..Source.. Jose Arballo Jr
June 11, 2010
Murrieta police seeking ‘angry’ sex offender who authored letter
November 19, 2009
Police Search for Pedophile Letter-Writer Targeting Young Girls
11-19-2009 National:
Authorities are searching for a letter writer who has targeted more than 40 girls in the Phoenix metropolitan area in the past decade by sending sexually explicit letters to their homes.
Authorities say there are 80 such cases around the county with 41 reported in Arizona, including 29 in Phoenix and Scottsdale.
Phoenix police say the letter writer targets girls as young as 8, tracking them by name and neighborhood through media reports.
The first known victim was a 12-year-old girl in Tucson while the most recent letter was reported in July.
A couple told MyFox Phoenix their 8-year-old daughter received a letter last fall.
"The letter was downright threatening. Someone says they want to do certain things to your child and they're very graphic, the kind of language he used. Husbands and wives don't talk like that usually," the Arizona couple, who didn't want to be identified, told the station. "It used to be fun to go check the mail with the kids. Now I check the mail, I carry the mail, they aren't allowed to go through anything."
The letter writer has never made any known physical contact with victims and detectives say efforts to identify the suspect through collected DNA have proven futile.
Police in California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina and Texas have also been notified of reported victims. ..Source.. Fox News
October 23, 2009
VT- Suggestive letters lead to sex charges
10-23-2009 Vermont:
BARRE – A high school sophomore entered a pair of conditional guilty pleas in Vermont District Court on Monday to charges stemming from his decision to leave two sexually suggestive letters in the mailbox of a five-year-old neighbor over the summer.
Standing before Judge Brian Grearson, Edwin Read Jr., 16, essentially admitted he wrote the letters that were addressed to the young girl, discovered by her mother and immediately called to the attention of Barre police back in July.
According to prosecutors, the letters – one written on brightly colored paper and sealed in an envelope decorated with stickers and the other penned on a plain piece of folded white paper – each represent a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
However, a motion filed by Read's lawyer requesting that he be granted "youthful offender status," makes it much less clear what penalties he will actually face. What's more Grearson noted that if the motion, which will be heard in family court, is denied, Read will be within his rights to withdraw the guilty pleas he entered during his arraignment on Monday.
Deputy States Attorney Megan Campbell expressed concern about the possibility Read could be granted youthful offender status given the nature of the letters he wrote to his young neighbor.
"We strongly oppose it your honor," she said of the motion.
Grearson noted Campbell's objection, but said the motion, filed on Read's behalf by his court-appointed lawyer, Maggie Vincent, must be transferred to family court for a hearing. No date has yet been set for that hearing.
During Monday's session, Vincent objected to Campbell's addition of a second count of felony "sexual exploitation – luring child" reading the brief letter on which it was based aloud in open court: "Hey little one. I was wondering what your age is and the size of your underwear. I am 16 and live out on the street. I think that you are really cute and that you are pretty and I was hoping I might be able to meet with you some time after 10 a.m. at the Salvation Army. Love ya.'"
That, Vincent argued, was not sufficient to warrant the second felony charge that was filed against her client.
"You have to infer and imply a lot of information in that and (then) contort it," she said of the letter.
However, Grearson said the suggestive nature of the letter coupled with the request to meet were enough to persuade him there was at least probable cause for the second charge.
The other letter, which arrived in the decorated envelope, was far more suggestive, according to court records that depict Read as someone who continues to wrestle with urges involving young girls.
During a July 18 interview conducted just two days after the letters were discovered, Read allegedly told police he was already attending a group session for sex offenders based on his parents' concerns about writings they found in his room involving young girls. During that interview, he first admitted to writing the letters.
Read, who has been forced to move at least three times since that initial interview, is currently being held at Woodside Detention Facility.
Police quickly focused on Read after the victim's mother mentioned a neighbor whose parents had forbidden him from using the internet for fear he would look up child pornography.
Police first spoke with Edwin Read Sr. He said the handwriting in the letters looked like it could be his son's. They subsequently interviewed Read, who allegedly admitted to writing the letters and being attracted to the young girl. However, he denied acting on those impulses or meeting with the girl. ..Source.. by David Delcore TIMES ARGUS STAFF
