Parents out in force to guard children

Danette Goulet and Greg Risling

CORONA DEL MAR -- The line to pick up students at Lincoln Elementary

School stretched down the block Wednesday, after a flier was released

notifying parents that sex offender Jay Michael Raymond was living in the

area.

“I noticed today the pick-up line was twice as long as it usually is,”

said Katherine Heinfeld, who has a 10-year-old daughter at Lincoln.

“There was a traffic jam.”When students hopped in their parents’ cars

Wednesday, they had with them a police flier with a sketch of Raymond,

who is listed as a serious sex offender with the state’s Department of

Justice.

Raymond’s 1997 conviction stemmed from harassing a 11-year-old boy, sources familiar with the case said. He called the boy, who was friends

with his son, and tried to arrange a meeting, the source said.

Raymond reportedly made some sexual suggestions to the boy, who promptly

hung up the phone and told his parents.

Although parents’ vigilance at Lincoln and nearby Andersen Elementary

School noticeably increased, some parents said they have been on guard

since an incident several years ago.

In May of 1998, an 11-year-old girl at Lincoln reported being sexually

assaulted in a school restroom. Although no one was ever arrested in that

case, police do not believe the two cases were related.

“That really, really sharpened everyone’s attention,” said Jill Money,

Harbor Council PTA president and an Andersen parent who also received

notice of Raymond’s presence. “I think since then, everyone has been more

on guard.”

It was following the report of that incident that schools implemented the

“intruder” precautions currently employed, which include the “buddy

system” and other practices.

“After two years ago, we’re very well prepared for this and I think

reviewing safety procedure is important,” Heinfeld said.Raymond has the

dubious distinction of being the second convicted sex offender who had a

flier with his name on it passed around a Newport Beach neighborhood.

A near hysteria surfaced in the Newport Crest community three years ago

when the public was notified about James Lee Crummel, a notorious sex

offender who has been convicted of child molestation in several counties.

Residents were outraged that Crummel was living in their neighborhood and

picketed the home where he stayed with friend Burnell Gordon Forgey.

Nearly a year later, both men were arrested and eventually convicted of

molesting a 16-year-old boy, who was Forgey’s patient.

Crummel is still awaiting trial for the murder of 13-year-old Jamey

Trotter of Costa Mesa, who disappeared in 1979. The boy’s charred remains

were found by Crummel 11 years later while he was hiking near the Ortega

Highway in Riverside County.

Unlike Crummel, who was listed as a high-risk sex offender, Raymond

doesn’t have a long list of child molestation convictions.

Raymond is one of 16 “serious” sex offenders -- a classification issued

by the state Department of Justice. Police determine whether certain

agencies should be informed about a sex offender like Raymond, who lives

a quarter-mile from Lincoln Elementary School.

“Some of the other serious sex offenders might live near schools, but

their offenses didn’t involve minors,” said Newport Beach police Sgt.

Mike McDonough.

McDonough added there has been only one other case in Newport Beach where

a convicted sex offender lived near a school. That individual moved soon

after he learned from police that fliers with his name might be

distributed in the neighborhood where he resided.

Raymond has likewise told police he plans to move this week.

Tom Monarch, the DARE Coordinator for Newport Beach who visits the

schools teaching safety, said that most known sex offenders leave the

area of their residence when they commit these crimes.

“These kids should be prepared, regardless,” Monarch said. “Parents

should be more concerned with [a sex offender] that hasn’t been caught.”