Rally Alerts Neighbors to Molester’s New Home

His picture appeared on fliers, posters and even T-shirts. A sign carried his motel room number and a description of his car. Drivers honked their horns Saturday responding to banners that read: “Child molester alert. Honk if you want Sid out.”

Protesters wanted everyone to know that Sid Landau--twice convicted of molesting young boys--lives in their neighborhood. And they wanted everyone to know he’s not welcome there.

“This area is full of children,” said Yvonne Vitale, one of about 25 people who protested Saturday outside a local motel believed to be Landau’s new home. “They put him in the wrong place.”

Local police are planning to meet with officials from the parole division of the state Department of Corrections on Monday in response to pleas to have Landau moved once again. But T. Matthew Phillips, Landau’s attorney, said state officials have “zero” options for his client.

“There is no solution,” Phillips said. “Nobody knows what to do with him.”

Landau, 57, has moved three times since he was released from prison in November. He is the first convicted child molester in Southern California to come under the arm of Megan’s Law, named after the New Jersey youngster believed to have been killed by a convicted child molester living quietly in her neighborhood.

The law allows police to warn residents when a sexual offender is in their midst. When Landau took up residence in Placentia shortly after his release from prison, police alerted residents by distributing fliers with Landau’s picture, name and new address. Landau recently moved to Fullerton, where police notified residents that Landau was living in a motel in the area but stopped short of revealing his address.

But Landau’s attorney said Fullerton police offered enough information about his client that “it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out” where he is living.

Phillips contends that notifying the neighbors of Landau’s residence violates his client’s constitutional right to privacy. He has filed a claim against the city of Placentia, and threatens to do the same to other cities that harass Landau.

“They never should have moved him because it would have died down in Placentia eventually,” Phillips said. “Now, it’s a source of civic pride. ‘If Placentia can do it, we can too.’ ”

The attorney said Fullerton police also have mislabeled Landau as a “high-risk” sex offender, which he said is not true.

“Sid Landau is not a kidnapper. He won’t snatch your kid while you’re out shopping,” Phillips said. “Sid Landau has never hacked anybody’s arms off. Sid Landau does not own a AK-47. So long as the parents are reasonably prudent, everything should be OK.”

Protesters said they didn’t care if Landau was a “high risk” or a “serious risk,” as Placentia’s fliers referred to him. Once a sex offender, always a sex offender, they said.

“He has a sickness,” said Michele Kurykendall, who fears for the safety of her 7-year-old son. “I don’t think there is a chance that you can reform a child molester. I think that’s an urge he’s going to have for the rest of his life. He doesn’t belong out on the streets.”