California accidentally releases child molester, deports him to Mexico

SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) -- A convicted child molester was accidentally released from a jail in California and deported to Mexico, but the release went unnoticed for nearly a month until he failed to appear at his sentencing this week, prosecutors said on Friday after a warrant was issued.

Jorge Antonio Pallares, 38, pleaded no contest on October 11 to one count of committing a lewd act on a 13-year-old girl in Watsonville, a city in Santa Cruz County. He was convicted and ordered to remain in custody until Thursday, when he was expected to be sentenced to up to six years in prison.

But the alarm was raised on Thursday when Pallares failed to show up for his sentencing in court, and officials quickly learned that he had been mistakenly released and deported to Mexico. "This should never have happened. A convicted child molester is now free to victimize other children," Santa Cruz District Attorney Bob Lee said.

According to the district attorney's office, a quality control officer at the Santa Cruz County Jail mistakenly released Pallares to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on October 16. This is believed to be in part due to a court clerk who had sent the jail court minutes for the wrong court date.

An ICE attorney later noticed that Pallares was scheduled to be sentenced in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on December 12 and contacted the Santa Cruz County Jail. The jail reviewed the matter but declined to take the convict back into custody, although the reason is unclear. Pallares was then deported to Mexico on November 15 without the district attorney's office being notified.

Judge Paul Marigonda issued a $1 million bench warrant after Pallares failed to appear in court this week, but it was not immediately clear whether Mexican authorities were actively searching for the man. Family members of the victim and detectives who worked on the case were notified about the mistake, the district attorney's office said.

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