Ex-police Officer Convicted Twice of Rape Released To His Parent's Home : 10 Yards Away From Elementary School

TORRANCE, Calif. ( KTLA) -- Police and school officials are warning Torrance residents that a former sheriff's deputy convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl and 65-year-old woman has moved into the neighborhood.

Rick Alan Gonzales, 57, served 26 years in prison for the crimes. Because he completed his sentence, he is not on parole and will not be under police supervision.

Gonzales registered with the Torrance Police Department on Tuesday after moving into his parents' house in the 22600 block of Greenwood Avenue, which is about a block away from Hickory Elementary School.

Police issued a bulletin to school officials who then informed parents and students about the situation on Thursday.

Gonzales, a former Riverside County sheriff's deputy, was convicted in August of 1983 in the kidnapping and rape of a 13-year-old girl.

He was fired from the department.

Two years later, while free on bond and awaiting an appeal of his conviction, Gonzales sexually assaulted a 65-year-old woman who was related to his then wife.

A probation report at the time stated Gonzales had reportedly raped his own sister on two occasions years earlier, The Daily Breeze is reporting.

Gonzales' father says his son is getting used to life outside prison, has a job and will move when he becomes adjusted to freedom.

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I posted the above article because this man is now living around the block from me. He also raped his own sister many years ago. I walk my dogs down the block as there is park next to the elementary school named in the article.
There are kids all over the place. When I drove by today newscasters were all over the block. Im shocked by this
but there is nothing that can be done about this as this man served all 26 years of his sentence. Right there is a red flag to me. Why? he is a rapist but its highly unusual for someone to serve every day of their sentence, especially in California. Why was he never parolled? In so upset by this I cant tell you. It really hits home when its right around the block.

This news needs to be publicized all over.
This guy is almost 3 miles from me, about 10 minutes and this is a super populated area, kids everywhere!

Exactly my thoughts! He's right here and you are so close! You are so correct, no one serves their entire sentence in CA, so there's more to this story of this man's life.
There nothing we can do but I haven't yet checked the newspapers, it needs to reach everyone!

Torrance residents warned of rapist's presence in area

Police and school officials issued a bulletin Thursday warning Torrance residents that a former sheriff's deputy convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl and a 65-year-old woman has moved into the city. | POLICE NEWS

Rick Alan Gonzales, 57, served 26 years in prison for the crimes. He registered with the Torrance Police Department on Tuesday after moving into his parents' house in the 22600 block of Greenwood Avenue.

"He served his time," said his father, contacted at home Thursday.

Gonzales refused to come to the front door for an interview. His father said that despite the police bulletin, his son poses no threat to the community because "he was a policeman at the time" of the crimes.
"He is here only to get used to his outside life," the father said, adding his son has a job and will move when he becomes adjusted to freedom.

Torrance police learned of Gonzales' arrival in the city when he arrived at the police station to register as a sex offender on Tuesday, Torrance police Sgt. Jeremiah Hart said.

Police visited him at his parents' home that night.

"Our detectives went out there and spoke with him to see what his plans are," Hart said. "He's under no more scrutiny from the Police Department. He did serve his time and is not on parole anymore."

Police officials, however, decided to issue a bulletin to officials at Hickory Elementary School, which is located about a block from Gonzales' home.
Torrance Unified School District officials issued the bulletin to all students Thursday.

"I freaked out," said one mother, who pulled the flier from her child's backpack after picking him up from Hickory. "My kids won't be playing in the front yard for a while."

The woman, who lives nearby the Gonzales home, said she actually feared more for her own safety than her children's after reading about his crimes.

Hart said police issued information that was public on the state's Megan's Law website that displays information about registered sex offenders.

Police officers had to decide whether to let residents find the information themselves or notify them.

"The concern for us is the rights for everybody - the rights of the homeowners and the rights of Mr. Gonzales to be safe in his home," Hart said. "We expect the public to act appropriately within the scope of the law."

A 76-year-old resident called it "very alarming" to learn Gonzales had moved onto her street.

"We've had a wonderful neighborhood," she said. "I hope that something comes up that scares him away."

Gonzales' father and mother, who declined to identify themselves, said they feared for their safety. They said their son earned a bachelor's degree in prison, is a paralegal and does not pose a threat.

Records show Gonzales was eligible for parole in 2003. His parents said he served his time at a state prison in Norco and his parole in a prison hospital, where doctors deemed him eligible for release last week. He is not on parole because his sentence was completed.

A Riverside County jury convicted Gonzales on Aug. 1, 1983, of rape, kidnapping, lewd acts with a child under 14 and child endangerment.

The girl testified that she had run away from home in November 1982 when the deputy picked her up at a convenience store, drove her to a deserted area and raped her.

The Sheriff's Department fired him.

Two years later, free on bond while awaiting an appeal of his conviction, Gonzales entered the bedroom of a woman's home on Andreo Avenue in Torrance.

The woman heard him and grabbed a .22-caliber pistol, but Gonzales wrestled it from her. He then sexually assaulted her.

Police said Gonzales took money from the victim and told her he had a police scanner in the car. He threatened that he would return to kill her if he heard police dispatched to her house.

Gonzales was married to the granddaughter of the victim's sister at the time. After his arrest, he denied committing the crime and claimed she framed him.

In a probation report released at the time, Gonzales said he believed the victim was raped, but that she used him as a scapegoat.

The probation officer also wrote, however, that Gonzales had reportedly raped his own sister on two occasions years earlier.

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Rick Alan Gonzales, 57, was convicted in the rapes of a 13-year-old girl and a 65-year-old woman. He now lives in Torrance. (dbadmin)

Oh bulls***, his Father says he isn't a threat to society because 'he was a policeman at the time'.
He served his time in Norco and at a prison hospital? Was that on a mental ward at the prison hospital? What kind of monster did they release straight into a super populated area?
I know there's nothing the police can officially do about this but I hope they are watching this guy.
Artgal, it's creepy to know he's living three miles away, I wouldn't want to live around the block from this man!

What upsets me is that this one man is allowed to affect hundreds of citizens and their children in this neighborhood.
That isnt right. His rights should not be more than the safety of the community as a whole. Why was he in the hospital?
He raped his sister twice they say "years before" how many years? He went into jail at 36 - was he in his 20s or teens when he raped his sister? If that happened fourty years ago and then in his 30's he raped twice again, why do they think he is safe now? Because he got a bachelors degree? What else did he have to do all day? He will do it again, Im sure of it. Its a compulsion and it cannot be cured.

I will be alerting everyone I can on my street - and tomorrow when I walk the dogs at the park. His parents are elderly I assume - but for them to allow him to move into their house a few steps from the school is so downright selfish I cant stand it. Why wasnt his sisters raped ever reported? It couldnt have been if he became a cop.
Are his parents enablers?

I don't think one can ever be 'cured' either, he's a rapist and will be until the day he dies.
I think all we can do is to alert everyone we see, just like you are doing, I'm going to email the article in the Daily Breeze to everyone I know in and around Torrance.
LE might be watching him but they can't come right out and say it, I sure hope they are.
No doubt he's convinced his parents, his Dad at least that he no longer poses a threat to society and they must be in their 80's and maybe they have never thought he was a threat, who knows?
If his sister was raped in the 60's or 70's there's probably a good chance it went unreported. I don't know what type of background check was able to be done way back then it sure wasn't as sophisticated as it is today, so who knows. Maybe he could have become a cop if he was able to fool them, IDK.

Yes lets try to at least get the word out to who we know.
I dont know the people across the street but their kids ride their bikes up and down and I will go tomorrow and talk to the mother. I hate to be an alarmist but at least I will have told them rather than do nothing.

Because he completed his sentence, he is not on parole and will not be under police supervision.

That's damn scary. No one except the neighbors will be watching this man.

If it's legal I would print some flyers that include his photo and one of the news articles to hand out to neighbors.

Gonzales entered the bedroom of a woman's home on Andreo Avenue in Torrance.
The woman heard him and grabbed a .22-caliber pistol, but Gonzales wrestled it from her. He then sexually assaulted her.
Police said Gonzales took money from the victim and told her he had a police scanner in the car. He threatened that he would return to kill her if he heard police dispatched to her house.
Gonzales was married to the granddaughter of the victim's sister at the time. After his arrest, he denied committing the crime and claimed she framed him.
In a probation report released at the time, Gonzales said he believed the victim was raped, but that she used him as a scapegoat.

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Raine and Artgal, what they hell? You all should NOT have to be going through this. The fact that this man is a former police officer scares me as he knows the in's and out's.


I applaud you both for getting the word out to as many people in your area as possible!!

BJ♥OR wrote:

Because he completed his sentence, he is not on parole and will not be under police supervision.

That's damn scary. No one except the neighbors will be watching this man.

Exactly. The cops feel like he did his time. This is not right!!

Well as Im a widow, going out and coming in late will be a lot scarier now which actually I have to do tonight. Its funny how all of a sudden your confidence can leave after you find out evil lives so close to you. When I saw his picture
I thought he looked sick. Im going to call Monday and see if I can find out more about him, specifically why he ended up serving the entire time of his sentence without parole. This is an extremely unusual thing, almost unheard of in a non-murder case (and sometimes even if you have committed certains circumstances of murder they let you out on parole)
This one fact makes me believe there is a lot more going on with this man. If he was such a model prisoner and earned a bachelors degree, he should have earned credits for early release through good behavior - why didnt he?

If he raped his sister, he could rape his own mother.
No one is safe.
I saw this on the news last night, I really feel for you in Torrance. Actually, anywhere. Once he starts driving he could be anyplace.

I'm alone as well Artgal. We just have to be more aware than we normally are. I posted the Daily Breeze article w/ his picture to my FB page to warn everyone of this guy. Problem is, how many are we already living near anyway. I am real glad that Torrance PD decided to go public with this guy, they didn't have to because he's not on parole so I give them credit for that. I have a feeling they may watch him but we all know they cannot watch 24/7.

Be careful ladies!

Artgal, Did you happen to find out anything further on this guy?

No I was out yesterday and swamped this morning.
But this afternoon Im going to call Torrance PD and see if they a liaison that speaks to the public and see what he can tell me if anything. I will post what I find out.

Thank you!

Well I got exactly nowhere after being transferred they said they couldnt give out any information. I did find out that
he was up for parole in 2003 which was 19 years ago
but never got it, but no reason why and that he spent
time in the prison hospital. I was told to be alert when walking and just to be aware of my circumstances. Try telling that to a 7 year old is what I replied but I didnt get an answer to that. We are pretty much stuck with him until he decides to leave. Unbelievable.

Wonderful.
He was up for parole in 1993 you mean?
If he was up for parole that long ago and didn't make it, there's got to be a good reason why. And it can't be a good one for us, the public. I don't know how to find out why he wasn't paroled, I wonder who one of us could call - wouldn't that be privy to the public?
I honestly don't know.

I do not believe we can find out anything past what we know. It was 2003 he came up for parole at that time he had serve 19 years and was released in 2010
seven years later. Ive run his name in several data bases
but nothing has come up.

Could you contact a local news station?

All the local news stations carried the story but not now. I think they would consider it harassement after the inital report.

I will ask my friend at KTLA about it in an email.
I will get back to you regarding this matter tomorrow.

"charminglane" I will ask my friend at KTLA about it in an email.
I will get back to you regarding this matter tomorrow.

Charm, that's a wonderful idea! I used to work somewhere that I had heavy input with probation and parole officers, I tried looking an old friend up last night that maybe could help but so far, I can't find him. I'll keep trying thou'.

I can not remember who nor what thread subject but a while ago someone posted a problem concerning a RSO moving into the neighborhood or apt building (inCA). They wanted to send notices to everyone but were told by police this was illegal and the RSO could sue them for damages if they did it. I could not believe this so I looked up the law and the police officer was right.

I hope you guys stay safe. At least you know what he looks like.

That was Adela's friend. I even called the police and talked to them about this and was told in no uncertain terms that in the State of California, you cannot harass or post flyers letting your neighbors know.

This was my contact's response:

Hiya –

BTW - We did live shots on this earlier in the week. I can’t answer your question for sure, but I’m guessing he did his full sentence (as so many do) to avoid the parole issue. It’s the ongoing problem with sexual predators. Once they’ve served their time there’s not a lot can be done to prevent them from striking again. Most will resort to their old ways, but unless there’s good reason to send them to a mental hospital they are returned to society.

db

charminglane wrote:This was my contact's response:

Hiya –

BTW - We did live shots on this earlier in the week. I can’t answer your question for sure, but I’m guessing he did his full sentence (as so many do) to avoid the parole issue. It’s the ongoing problem with sexual predators. Once they’ve served their time there’s not a lot can be done to prevent them from striking again. Most will resort to their old ways, but unless there’s good reason to send them to a mental hospital they are returned to society.

db

I am confused by this, out on parole or not aren't all RSO required to follow certain guidelines and their wherabouts known by LE? I hope this is not a loophole RSOs have learned to avoid this. If so we need to work with changing laws making mandatory sentences so long this won't be more attractive than being on probation. I am going to try to look this up and understand this. If someone here can explain it to me, even better.

Yes, Laga, they are supposed to register and keep LE aware of their whereabouts.
I am wondering if there is an internet connection to the home. Isn't a computer banned from any residence that has an RSO residing there?

I am wondering if there is an internet connection to the home. Isn't a computer banned from any residence that has an RSO residing there? <------ by Charm

I seriously doubt it, unless they are on parole or probation and that's stipulated. There's been recent legislation introduced to ban RSOs from going on FB and other social media pages.

The reason that this man is not under any restriction is because a judge put on a stop on sexual predators being prohibited from living close to a school. This man is not on parole or probation he has served his sentence.
But Im not sure about this info on the judge stopping this restriction - its something I read on one of the newspapers that carried this story - i need to look it up

Law restricting where sex offenders can live is unconstitutional, L.A. judge rules [Updated]
November 4, 2010 | 8:07 am
Saying sex offenders are being forced to choose between prison and homelessness, a Los Angeles judge issued an opinion this week blocking enforcement of provisions a state law restricting how close those offenders can live from parks or schools.

Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza issued the 10-page ruling after four registered sex offenders petitioned the court, arguing that the legislation known as Jessica's Law was unconstitutional.

He said the court had received about 650 habeas corpus petitions raising similar legal issues, and that hundreds more were being prepared by the public defender's and alternate public defender's offices.

"The court is not a 'potted plant' and need not sit idly by in the face of immediate, ongoing and significant violations of parolee constitutional rights," Espinoza wrote.

Proposition 83, which is better known as Jessica's Law and was overwhelmingly passed by state voters in 2006, imposes strict residency requirements on sex offenders, including requirements forbidding them from residing within 2,000 feet of any public or private school or park where children regularly gather.

Before the law passed, those residency requirements were imposed only on offenders whose victims were children.

Civil rights attorneys have argued that provisions of the law make it impossible for some registered sex offenders to live in densely populated cities.

Nearly all of San Francisco, for example, is off-limits to sex offenders because of the number of parks and schools close to housing. Los Angeles officials also said that there are few places in the city where sex offenders can find housing that meets Jessica's Law requirements.

The California Supreme Court ruled in February that registered sex offenders could challenge residency requirements in the law if it proves impossible to avoid living near parks and schools.

State corrections officials said Wednesday that they could not comment on the specifics of Espinoza's ruling, but said they would continue to ensure residency restrictions are imposed in cases where there is a valid reason to continue enforcing them.

"There are other tools that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation can and will continue to use to further public safety, including residency restrictions specific to each offender," said the agency spokesman Luis Patino.

In his opinion, Espinoza cited comments by Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck that the Jessica's Law restrictions had resulted in "a marked increase of homeless/transient registrants." The judge noted that in 2007, there were 30 homeless sex offenders on active parole in the city of Los Angeles. By September of this year, that number had jumped to 259.

[Corrected at 10:10 p.m.: A previous version of this story said there were 30 sex offenders on active parole in the city of Los Angeles in 2007. There were 30 homeless sex offenders on active parole in the city of Los Angeles in 2007.]

"Rather than protecting public safety, it appears that the sharp rise in homelessness rates in sex offenders on active parole in Los Angeles County actually undermines public safety." wrote Espinoza, who is the supervising judge of the Los Angeles County criminal courts. "The evidence presented suggests that despite lay belief, a sex offender parolee's residential proximity to a school or park where children regularly gather does not bear on the parolee's likelihood to commit a sexual offense against a child."

LAPD officials said they were reviewing the court decision and had no immediate comment on its specifics.

Last month, in a briefing for the Los Angeles Police Commission, Det. Diane Webb, who heads a unit responsible for tracking the whereabouts of sex offenders, said there are about 5,100 registered sex offenders living in the city.

Of those, about 20%, or approximately 1,020 people, are on parole for felony crimes and are prohibited by state law from living near a school or park where children gather, Webb said.

She said that some of the city's sex-offender population has come to Los Angeles from surrounding cities that have passed additional sex-offender laws that make it next to impossible for offenders to find a place to live and push them to look elsewhere, but that Los Angeles does not have any additional laws on its books, making it a feasible destination.

-- Andrew Blankstein
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What is Alcatraz being used for and how many could be "housed" there?

It seems to me many SO released have not only a hard time finding housing but also a hard time finding work and a hard time not re-offending. Please Judge Espibozo can we make allowances for this also.
Maybe you could give some of them a job babysitting your children. :tongue in chee

Seriously, I understand the complexity of this issue but public safety and victim's rights should be more important than rights of offenders even the ones who serve all their time.

I posted to a lot of my friends. It was amazing how many of them felt that SO should be able to live where they want. A lot of them felt he "paid his debt to society" but they also gave a caveat that if they had small children they would be concerned. Ha! I told one of them that I blog on website that discusses these cases and he said who do you think you are Nancy Drew. To which I replied - Yes. Note my avatar!

I'm NOT trying to open up a can of worms here but there's some SO's that are so low risk that I wish they weren't lumped into the category of sex offender.
I used to work at a place where most of our clients were convicted criminals. This place offered several treatment programs and one of them was for sex offenders. We had quite a few men who had urinated in public, the ones I remember the most were truckers that had been caught reliving themselves on the road but we had many who had went out, got drunk, urinated were they shouldn't have and were arrested. These guys paid a heavy price for their crime, not only did most of them have to 52 classes in 52 weeks but they had to register as an SO for the rest of their lives. I remember a couple of young guys who had made a big mistake of sleeping with an underaged girl, they too have to register forever. IMOO these guys don't belong on the sex offender list.
But, we did have one guy I remember that no one could understand why he received the same sentence as one of these other guys and he DID rape someone, there WAS violence involved and no one could understand why in the hell that judge ruled in the way he did. This man freaked me out real good (I also was the only female working there) and I was very careful when I left work.
My point is that parts of this particular law sucks. We have people who haven't really committed much of a crime, there was no victim and one can find them on every sex offender list. Then we have the most dangerous of of the SO's and many times we don't even know they live in our area unless we happen to look on the registry.
People who believe someone 'has paid their debt to society' really need to be more aware of who they might be talking about. In the case of the latest Torrance guy, if they wouldn't want their children or grandchildren living by them then maybe they should reevaluate their thinking or educate themselves a bit more on some of our laws.
OK, I'm off my for now.

:cheers:

Raine, the worms have been out of that can for a while.

Well was I in for a shock today - I talked to a neighbor I had not seen for a while and she told me that I have a sex offender living exactly across the street from me.
Not only that he has 5 children! One of them is a girl now about 12 who is adopted from an Eastern European country. He lives their with his inlaws and his wife and none of them work - they rent the house and those children never step outside because they are home schooled. All this time I thought that all the constant visitors coming over there during the day were teachers checking on the home schooling and I find out that its
social services! Just great isnt it?
you can go to this website to check your area:
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He was convicted of lewd and lacivious acts on a child under 15 years old. I hope to god it wasnt the adopted
daughter. I keep an eye over there as their dog was constantly getting out and we were always rescuing it.
The landlord is a jerk but finally he fixed that rickedly old fence. They just had another child - she seems to always be pregnant - they have an 17 year old boy
and then the girl and then 3 smaller boys I think and his wife told me 3 of her children had autism. They are scam
artists I knew it from the start because I spoke to them briefly when they moved in and seemed they always had these calamities like floods, fires, etc and then three children with autism? I dont know what kind of fools these social services are - but now after finding out he was a SO and allowed to live with all these children I think they just live off the system as much as possible.
I never see those children out of the house never and they purport to be born again Christians! Im not worried about him but I just wonder what goes on over there at night.

Art, that isn't good at all. Honestly, what is this world coming to?