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By Shiloh Ireland
Photo: girl and her parents
October 9, 2022 (El Cajon) – On October 2nd, another peaceful protest was held next to a sex offender’s home at 9107 Sesi Lane, where sex offenders have been placed. At this time, the six offenders housed have been reduced to four, as two moved to another part of East County.
Attending the protest was Andrew Hayes, a Lakeside Union School Board member and also Anthony Carnevale, a realtor and community activist who is now spearheading the community's outcry over placement of sex offenders in their community and unraveling the behind the scene orchestration of the placement. Also present was Patrick McMillan of the McMillan family, who is also a resident and activist who has done a lengthy investigation of placement.
Residents noticed a lot of activity at the house for several months, including numerous individuals coming and going as well as construction work. They searched the Megan's Law website and saw that sex offenders freed after convictions for numerous types of sexual crimes were registered at the address.
This reporter sent media messages to all five county supervisors, as well as to State Senator Brian Jones, Assemblyman Randy Voepel and Congressman Darrell Issa. Joel Anderson, whose district includes the property, did not respond. Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, who is not the District 2 supervisor, messaged me that a staffer would contact me within a week, but it has not happened. Senator Brian Jones sent a brief message recently of acknowledgment of issue and his commitment to work towards solutions. At an earlier protest, Mayor Wells of El Cajon spoke, though he has no authority in unincorporated El Cajon but was supportive of the residents, committed to dialogue and meeting with anyone including supervisors or anyone if he can help.
Who owns this home? The deed lists Natalie Casillas and her sister Nicole Casillas under the LLC of Mountain High Construction. Nicole is a realtor Coldwell Banker-West in Chula Vista. New Lyfe Homes is the placement agency of the offenders. Recently, Nicole Casillas sent a cease-and-desist letter to Haynes and Carnevale and to their respective school district superintendents. The letter called protesters a "racist mob."
Photo, left: school board trustee Andrew Hayes talking to protesters
I first spoke with Anthony Carnevale and asked him what county official has helped the most. “I don't know if any elected official has helped us, but a code enforcement officer is supposed to come out,” he replied. Asked what steps community members plan next, he replied, “Great question. Figure how to keep the pressure on,” adding, “I believe the protests resulted in three offenders leaving.” ECM could not independently verify the reason why some offenders moved elsewhere.
ECM also interviewed school board member Hayes and asked about jurisdiction. ”This is a state issues from my perspective as a school board member. The solution to this is a state solution,” he said, noting that sex offenders are different than sexually violent predators (SVPs).
The State of California approves SVP placements, who must be placed in the county where they were from, and the state is required to notify neighbors and there is a public comment period before a judge approves or rejects the placement. With other sex offenders, there is no formal public notice to the community.
Photo, right: boy and his parents at protest
“We should be to be proactive in protecting our kids and we need legislation to fix this,” Hayes says.
Haynes and others have initiated a signature initiative to expand protections of Jessica's Law, create school sex offender committees, require school safety ratings of 1 to 5 with regard to sex offenders--with 5 being the worst--and mandate that school district be notified before placement. The petition will go to Governor Newsom.
Hayes has this advice for community members: ”Keep fighting back; it’s grassroots and we need to change the law.”
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