From Chief Probation Officer Colleene Preciado to Chairman Chris Norby:

"July 26, 2007:

I would like to inform you of an extraordinary collaborative effort by the County’s Law Enforcement Team. As you are aware, the Orange County Fair i currently open. Each Tuesday, the Fair offers free admission for children in the “Kids Day” event. As you are also aware, the Probation Department’s Sex Offender Unit aggressively monitors and keeps close tabs on the whereabouts of known sex offenders. As in previous years, our Sex Offender Until attends the Fair on Kids Day and other days to ensure the public is safe from predators and to seek out sex offenders violating terms of their probation. Sex offenders are specifically forbidden to attend events such as the Fair because it is a location “likely to be attended by children.”  

On Tuesday, July 24, the Department Sex Offender Unit, along with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, was once again successful in spotting a long-time, known child molester at the Orange County Fair. The sex offender is a Megan’s Law registrant that was formerly on probation and is currently on parole. Deputy Probation Officer Andrew Parker, a member of the Sex Offender Unit, recognized the known sex offender, Sheriff’s Deputy Charlie Davis notified state parole, and DPO Parker was authorized to immediately arrest the offender. The public is safer today because this sex offender has been taken into custody and will likely return to prison. To what degree we don’t know, but a crime was certainly avoided on Tuesday because of the astute and professional work of the Probation Department’s officers. A week earlier on July 17, the Probation Department’s Sex Offender Unit was walking the fairgrounds and spotted a known child molester. With the assistance of the Sheriff’s Department, the sex offender was taken into custody thereby removing this predator from the event. To underscore the importance, both sex offenders have been convicted of numerous crimes of child molestation and other sex offenses.  

This is not the first time our Sex Offender Unit has served public safety well at the Orange County Fair. In 2005, the Probation Department made national and international news for catching a sexual predator at the Fair. Again last year, a similar arrest was made at the Fair – another sex offender was apprehended.  

I believe the Orange County Probation Department’s Sex Offender Unit is the finest in the State. […]This collaborative including the Probation Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department with officers Charlie Davis and David Caler works very well to keep Orange County safe. The fine teamwork between the Probation and Sheriff’s Departments strengths the enforcement capabilities of the County, thereby resulting in exceptional results, as described in these recent events at the Fair."