The San Benito County Probation Department led a multi-agency operation targeting sex offenders last week that resulted in the arrest of one individual and triggered the further investigation of nine others.
On Oct. 18, local, regional, state and federal law enforcement conducted a pre-Halloween sex offender compliance operation in the county.
During the operation, county resident Samuel Downs was arrested for violation of probation, failure to register as a sex offender and failure to report to the probation department.
Besides Downs, nine additional sex offenders were identified as possibly being out of compliance and investigations on these individuals are in progress. Investigations are also in progress for three offenders whose addresses could not be verified during the operation.
In addition, 101 sex offenders were confirmed to be properly registered and in compliance with the terms of their probation and/or registration.
“We have excellent regional collaboration to keep our community safe,” Chief Probation Officer R. Ted Baraan said. “With all of these agencies working together, we conducted checks of sex offenders on probation, on parole, or having a registration requirement.”
The San Benito County Probation Department, along with the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, the Hollister Police Department, California Department of Corrections Adult Parole Operations, the United States Marshals Service and the Santa Clara County SAFE Task Force all participated in the operation.
The mission of the San Benito County Probation Department is to protect the community, provide services to the court and assist clients to change criminal behavior. This includes monitoring and enforcement of court-ordered conditions of supervision for juveniles and adults.
Community members who would like to learn more about sex offenders living in their neighborhood can find this information at http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov.
Community members that have information about sex offenders that may be in violation of their conditions of supervision are encouraged to call 831.636.4100.
