Sex Offender Guilty Again
A man who enraged his Newport Beach neighbors when it was revealed he was a high-risk sex offender was convicted Friday of a sexual assault against a Big Bear teen in 1988.
James Crummel, 54, was found guilty of two counts of oral copulation on a person prevented from resisting because of the influence of drugs or alcohol, said San Bernardino County Deputy Dist. Atty. Denise Trager-Dvorah.
When Crummel was arrested last May in connection with the case, neighbors of the Newport Crest condominium he shared with psychiatrist Burnell Forgey drank champagne to celebrate.
Crummel had lived there two years in relative anonymity until his status as a high-risk sex offender was revealed under Megan’s law.
Crummel had been under investigation in connection with the Big Bear case. He was initially charged in 1995 with 15 counts relating to three victims, Trager-Dvorah said, but the counts were dismissed because the statute of limitations had been exceeded.
But Crummel was recharged in the 1988 case last year under special legislation that reduced the number of counts that could go to the jury, Trager-Dvorah said.
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