Date: October 20, 2008
For Immediate Release

Contact: Michael Jeandron
(951) 955-9215

DISTRICT ATTORNEY CRACKS DOWN ON SEX OFFENDERS: New Team Tasked With Tracking Down Sex Offender Warrants

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, October 20, 2008: Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco announced today the creation of a new team to track down sex offenders in Riverside County who are wanted by law enforcement. There are currently 388 sex offenders who have warrants for their arrest and have not been apprehended.

The new team, called the Sex Offender Apprehension Team, is comprised of three District Attorney Investigators. The team will be working closely with the Riverside County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) team on their mission.

The Sex Offender Apprehension Team is modeled after the District Attorney’s Fugitive Apprehension Team that currently serves warrants for outstanding homicide cases. Given the large number of sex offender warrants that currently exist in Riverside County, some dating back as early as 1985, the need to create a team to tackle this new project was critical.

“We cannot afford to let hundreds of known sex offenders roam our county and expose our children to additional risk. We must systematically track down these sex offenders and bring them to justice,” said District Attorney Rod Pacheco.

The team of investigators will start to immediately locate these dangerous sex offenders in the community. There are a total of 270,204 active warrants for all cases in Riverside County.