BORREGO SPRINGS, Calif. (CNS) - A 63-year-old registered sex offender is expected to live in Borrego Springs, prompting deputies Wednesday to go door-to-door informing residents.
Deputies, with assistance from Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force personnel, went door-to-door to inform the community of Gary Snavely, a registered sexual violent predator based on convictions including several counts of child molestation dating back to four years beginning in 1982, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.
Snavely served several years in state prison for his criminal offenses before a civil commitment to a state mental hospital for sex offenders, sheriff's officials said.
He was released this year pursuant to a court order into the community under the Conditional Release Program, with a lifetime requirement to register as a sex offender.
Sheriff's officials said Snavely is not wanted by the department, noting that California Penal Code Section 290, commonly known as Megan's Law, allows law enforcement agencies to notify the public about registered sex offenders who frequent the area.
"The purpose of this notice is to allow members of the public to protect themselves and their children from sex offenders," the sheriff's office said in a statement, adding that the notification is not to be used to threaten, intimidate, or harass Snavely or any other person connected to him, which may result in prosecution.
The sheriff's office, along with the San Diego County District Attorney's Office or the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force, is responsible for the selection of the site, sheriff's officials said, noting that the selection process is made by the Department of State Hospitals and the San Diego Superior Court.
Snavely was described as a 5-foot-9-inch-tall white man weighing 231 pounds with blonde hair and hazel eyes.
Information about the legal designation, treatment, and release of sexually violent predators from secure facilities is available on the websites of the San Diego County District Attorney's Office and California Department of State Hospitals.
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