Convicted Child Molester Is Fired From Job After Barrage of Publicity

PLACENTIA — A convicted child molester who moved into a neighborhood here and became the first target in Southern California of the state’s “Megan’s Law” has been fired from his job as a thrift store worker after a flurry of publicity.

Sid Landau, 57, said his boss fired him Monday when he showed up for work and co-workers complained about his past. Landau said he wasn’t sure what he would do next, and he despaired of the public’s unforgiving attitude toward child molesters.

“I did a wrong thing, and I paid for it,” said Landau, recently released after eight years in prison. “Now I am trying to start over, and I can’t. Some people just want me to put a gun to my head.”

“I can’t even go shopping,” he said. “People stare at me.”

Landau was the subject of intense publicity as the first sex offender in Southern California to trigger the full extent of the state’s “Megan’s Law.” The law allows police to notify residents when a convicted sex offender moves into their neighborhood.

Landau, who has two convictions for molesting boys under 14, has been living with friends in a quiet Placentia neighborhood since December.

When he moved in, police passed out fliers bearing his name, picture and address. Parents picketed his house with signs and bullhorns and neighbors dialed 911 every time Landau stepped from his house.

Last week, he was the subject of several newspaper and television reports.

Landau declined to name his employer. He said when he went to work Monday, his boss fired him and drove him home.

“Nobody wanted me there,” Landau said.

Landau had been working in a local thrift store, said Placentia police investigator Corinne Loomis. She expressed concern over his predicament.

“I’m sad to hear that,” Loomis said. “We want them as best they can to assimilate back into society.”

Even Landau’s neighbors, many of whom want him to move away, said they preferred him to be working.

“People here would be very glad to see him get a job and move out of the neighborhood,” said Dennis Hakeman, a fourth-grade teacher and Landau’s next-door neighbor. “This will make it harder for him to leave.”

Landau’s case and others like it have posed difficult questions for communities trying to deal with sex offenders who have been released from prison. Across the country, parents and victims rights advocates say they have a right to know when a convicted sex offender moves into their neighborhood.

The California law was modeled after a statute passed in New Jersey. The New Jersey law was named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old girl who was raped and murdered, allegedly by a convicted child molester who had moved into her neighborhood.

Yet some civil rights groups--and sex offenders--say statutes like “Megan’s Law” prevent offenders from leading productive lives. In some states where such laws have been passed, sex offenders have had their houses set afire, and others have been beaten.

“It’s usually low-level harassment: People get fired from their jobs, neighbors throw eggs at their houses,” said Ed Martone of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The California law, approved last year, grants the public access to the criminal backgrounds of convicted sex offenders who move into their communities. The law permits police to notify residents when they believe there is a substantial risk that a convicted sex offender could harm someone.

The California attorney general’s office says there are 55,000 people considered “serious” sex offenders in California. Those people have at least one conviction for rape, child molestation or other crimes. There are another 1,500 deemed “high-risk” offenders, meaning they have more than one sex crime conviction.

The Placentia police say there are 108 convicted sex offenders living in Placentia, a community of 50,000 people.

According to police records, Landau has two convictions for sex crimes. In 1982, he was convicted on three counts of molesting an Anaheim boy under age 14 and sentenced to 11 years, 8 months. He was released two years later.

In 1988, he was convicted on 17 counts of performing a lewd act on an 8-year-old boy. He served eight years in prison.

Now Landau says he can’t get on with his life.

“It’s never-ending,” he said of his ordeal.