South Bay : Residents Win Fight to Keep Out Rapist

Wilmington residents celebrated victory Monday after the state decided against locating a repeat sex offender in the area.

Neighbors held a candlelight vigil in Wilmington Town Square to celebrate after hearing that the state no longer intends to locate Ted Jamerson, a four-time convicted rapist, to the Harbor area, said Barry Glickman, a spokesman for City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr. Jamerson had been scheduled to move to Wilmington, according to police, after protests in Pasadena and Fontana, where the state had previously planned to locate him.

Jamerson registered as a sex offender with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Division on Friday and his visit drew several hundred protesters who were tipped off about the relocation plans, according to Harbor Division Capt. Rob Hansohn.

“The community came together quickly to let it be known that we were not going to put up with a paroled rapist,” Glickman said. “They can’t just dump someone like that into the community.”

Jamerson is currently being held in protective custody and police said they do not know where his new home will be.