Amid controversy over the placement of paroled sex offenders at hotels and motels near Disneyland, California fired its parole chief and began removing offenders from areas closest to the theme park, the Los Angeles Times reports. Parole and Community Services Division Director Jim L’Etoile was removed from his job Wednesday. Parole officials also were criticized after the stomping death Monday of a homeless woman by a parolee in Los Angeles.
The parole chief’s departure is the latest in a series of top Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials to either quit or be reassigned in recent months. In the Los Angeles skid row incident, a parolee allegedly stomped to death a 49-year-old woman on a sidewalk. Parole officials were reviewing why the parolee, Gregory George Hampton, 52, was released after being held 10 days in March. Police Chief William Bratton said he wanted to find out why Hampton, a career criminal with convictions for assault, burglary and narcotics over the last 30 years, was released.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-disneypred12may12,1,46164.story?coll=la-headlines-california