Police Notify Child Molester’s New Neighbors

Sidney Landau, the convicted child molester forced to leave a relative’s home last month because of irate neighbors, faces a new round of hostility at the apartment which he recently rented with the help of public funds.

Police Explorer Scouts handed out fliers Saturday morning at the Terrace, a 107-unit apartment complex, warning residents under Megan’s Law that Landau is a convicted sex offender who might try to molest children again. The fliers, which show a police photo of the slight, 57-year-old parolee, stirred up the same fears and anger as they did in his previous neighborhood, about a mile away.

Landau’s previous home was picketed almost daily and he received frequent death threats after Placentia police alerted neighbors to his presence in January, in the first use of Megan’s Law in California. He was fired from his thrift store job the same month.

Destitute, he used taxpayer money from a state parole fund to move to the $750-a-month apartment a week ago.

Apartment managers Nusha and Ves Ninov said they had no idea Landau was a sex offender until they were contacted by reporters Thursday. They immediately served him with a 30-day eviction notice, said Nusha Ninov. “Believe me,” she said, “I am as upset about it as anyone. I have a young daughter too.”

Ninov said she also offered Landau “a large sum of money in cash” to leave immediately, but two hours of negotiations with the ex-convict and his attorney, Todd Phillips, failed to produce an agreement. “He was really arrogant,” Ves Ninov said. “He said, ‘Give me $50,000 and I’ll leave.’ And that was the end of it.”

Phillips could not be reached for comment, but the Ninovs said he told them he would fight the eviction in court.

About 25 outraged residents held an impromptu meeting at the complex’s pool Saturday afternoon and resolved to find a way to make Landau leave. “All we can do is force him out of here,” Tom Kelly, 15, said. “But, see, wherever he moves, he’s going to get forced out again and again and again.”

“But people shouldn’t feel sorry for him,” added Matt Kelly, Tom’s 14-year-old brother, “because he brought this on himself.”

Landau was convicted twice of molesting boys about the ages of 9 or 10, said Placentia Police Det. Corinne Loomis, who was called in to attend the meeting Saturday. In both cases, she said, Landau had befriended families of the boys. “That’s the way he operates,” Loomis told the crowd. “If you see him talking to a child, call the police.”

Conditions of Landau’s parole, which cover four pages, prohibit him from talking to children, as well as having a VCR or many other common household items, she said. Media attention and the concern of residents will probably keep Landau from violating his parole, Loomis said. “He is actually less likely to offend because he is in the spotlight,” she said.

She also urged residents not to focus on Landau exclusively, but to warn their children not to talk to any strangers and to be aware of adults who seem overly friendly to children.

“If you focus all your attention on Mr. Landau, you’re missing the big picture,” she said. “We probably have 50 registered sex offenders in Placentia alone. Anaheim has 500. Fullerton has 300. And in the state of California, there are 70,000 registered sex offenders.”

Under Megan’s Law, which was a response to a young girl’s killing by a paroled sex offender in New Jersey, police departments can warn neighbors of a convicted sex offender’s presence if police believe the parolee might strike again. Although it is most often associated with children, the law also can be used for offenders who choose adult victims.

Cal State Fullerton officials are now weighing whether to apply Megan’s Law to a 47-year-old student who was convicted of molesting or annoying a person under 18. Several female students have complained of harassment from the student, and the university is considering warning students of his presence in some manner, confirmed campus police spokesman Stan Skipworth.

Loomis said police must weigh the privacy rights of the parolee with the rights of neighbors to be protected, and said they would only choose to notify neighbors if the parolee was considered to be “high risk.”

However, anyone with cause to be suspicious of a neighbor or person in contact with children can scan a record of sex offenders on file at any police station, she said.