List of Convicted Molesters Leads to Man’s Arrest

The Huntington Beach Police Department put the state attorney general’s recently released book of convicted child molesters to use this week and arrested an ex-convict on suspicion of failing to register his address with the state, police said.

Chris Harrison Decker, 41, is being held at the Huntington Beach City Jail on $500,000 bail, Senior Officer Mike Kelly said. Police used state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren’s highly publicized book of molester mug shots to check up on two ex-convicts who had registered using Huntington Beach addresses, Kelly said.

Police discovered that one of the men is now in prison. Decker, they learned, had first registered at an address near a Huntington Beach Boys and Girls Club. He no longer lives there.

He then attempted to register at a Midway City address, but he did not complete the process and has since moved again, police said, adding that Decker’s current address is unclear. His recent moves and failure to register in accordance with the law concerned police, who obtained an arrest warrant.

Officers arrested Decker at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at work in Mission Viejo.

Police stressed there is no evidence suggesting that Decker has committed any crime other than failing to register his address with the state as a convicted child molester. Failing to register is a felony that can bring anywhere from 16 months to three years in state prison.

“There isn’t any evidence of [other crimes] now, but it’s something that will obviously be part of the investigation,” Kelly said. “With him moving around so much, [investigators] are concerned about what he’s been up to.”

Kelly said Decker may be eligible for prosecution under the three-strikes law. The district attorney’s office will determine whether prosecution is appropriate and whether to charge Decker with a third strike, police said.