Public Funds Will Help Child Molester Relocate

Taxpayers will pay for at least one month’s rent and food to help twice-convicted child molester Sid Landau settle into a new Placentia apartment, a spokeswoman for the state parole division said Friday.

“He has no money,” said Lynda Ward, deputy regional parole administrator. “It probably seems luxurious to some people, but it’s the basics--food and shelter. . . . Would [people] prefer to have a child molester roaming the streets?”

Landau, 57, has been in the spotlight as the first sex offender in Southern California to trigger the full extent of the state’s Megan’s Law. The law allows police to notify residents when a convicted sex offender moves into their neighborhood.

Landau has two convictions for molesting boys under 14. Since November, he had been living with friends in a quiet Placentia neighborhood on Gehrig Avenue. Neighbors, who were notified of his presence when police distributed fliers bearing his picture, organized pickets outside his house with signs and bullhorns.

Saturday, police will pass out similar fliers notifying his new Placentia neighbors, Det. Corinne Loomis said. Police have not disclosed his new address, she said.

Landau’s initial housing expenses will come from a small emergency fund to help destitute and dangerous parolees “if we decide we can’t run the risk of leaving them on the street,” Ward said.

Technically, the money is a no-interest loan, but Ward said the parole division rarely gets repaid; there is no penalty if the parolee fails to pay it back. She said she did not know the exact amount of the loan but said it was less than $1,000.

Landau was fired from his thrift store job in January after a flurry of publicity on his release.

“We’re hoping he finds another job, or if he can’t, that he receives any other public assistance,” Ward said.

Placentia Mayor Norman Z. Eckenrode said he wished that taxpayer money could be used instead to keep Landau out of the city. “I’d rather pay for Mr. Landau [to move] to a confined area, like a prison,” he said.