Molester Moves to a Fullerton Hotel

Convicted child molester Sid Landau has moved to Fullerton from Placentia--where neighbors protested his presence--and for the first time in weeks, Landau’s whereabouts are unknown to the public.

Whether he will continues to live in privacy, however, is a decision Fullerton police have not yet made.

Fullerton police know the address of the residential hotel where Landau now lives, but they have not decided whether to make that information public the way Placentia officials did.

Placentia decided that Landau posed a threat to the community and became the first city in California to fully invoke Megan’s Law, named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka of New Jersey who was killed by a convicted sex offender who lived across the street from her.

Landau filed a claim against the city, alleging officials had violated his constitutional rights.

Now that he has moved, concerned Fullerton residents have begun calling the Police Department asking for Landau’s address, a police official said Saturday.

“The bottom line is that the chief and the staff are going to make a decision next week sometime with what they’re going to do,” said Lt. Jeff Roop. “But realistically, you could be living next to a murderer right now and not know it. There are a lot of people out there who’ve committed crimes, not just this guy.”

If Fullerton police decide to make Landau’s address public, his attorney, T. Matthew Phillips, hopes police will give him notice--so Landau can sue the city.

“I would hope they’d give us 48 hours’ notice if they decide to [pass out fliers] so I can get a restraining order,” Phillips said. “But if they do fliers, there absolutely will be a lawsuit--the very next day. I’m not going to wait around on it.”

The move is Landau’s second within weeks. Last month he left a friend’s house in Placentia, where he had been staying since November, because of death threats. His subsequent move to the Terrace, an apartment complex on Yorba Linda Boulevard, resulted in the same type of furor.

Residents of the complex protested that the children living in the building would not be safe while Landau was present and the landlord ordered Landau to leave.

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Phillips said Saturday that in forcing his client to move, the state had violated Landau’s constitutional rights.

“This order for him to move is illegal because it is not in writing,” Phillips said. “The law requires such orders to be in writing along with reasons for the order. The verbal reason they gave us was that there are 40 children present in the apartment building.

“But note, there were 40 kids when he moved in,” Phillips said. “So basically the Department of Corrections did not do their homework in determining whether the Terrace apartments were appropriate.”

On the theory that Landau would be unwanted wherever he moved, Phillips said he had hoped his client would exercise his right to stay in Placentia.

“His parole agent, Sid and myself all determined that it would be best for him to make a stand and make it at the Terrace apartments because there are hatemongers out there who will burn a cross on his lawn wherever he goes, metaphorically speaking.”

“Also, it may just be that he wants to live in Placentia,” Phillips said. “The point is: It’s a free country and he should be able to live wherever he wants. This is America.”