The case of Leonard Scroggins, a sex offender who police suspect in a brazen rash of robberies and kidnap attempts, is prompting new complaints about the state's handling of serial criminals, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. Scroggins cut off the GPS bracelet strapped to his ankle and skipped town late Monday, parole officials said. Tuesday night, the convicted sex offender, 32, who has been in and out of prison since he was a teenager, tried to rob a 17-year-old girl and kidnap a woman. The girl escaped, but the woman was stabbed. Wednesday afternoon, Scroggins snatched a woman's purse on a street, police said. Ninety minutes later he allegedly grabbed a 13-year-old girl, held a knife to her throat and tried to drag her into his car. Scroggins was arrested after an intense manhunt.
The spate of attacks has angered victim advocates and others, who complain parole officials are not doing enough to protect the public from dangerous felons. “These are sick, demented, perverted individuals,” said Todd Spitzer, an Orange County prosecutor who was critical of the prison system throughout his three terms in the Legislature. “The only solution is to lock them up and throw away the key. They're not rehabilitatable. They're sexual predators, and they're called that for a reason.” State officials said they followed the appropriate procedures after Scroggins removed his GPS bracelet. They issued an arrest warrant but no bulletin to law enforcement.