Parents picket against sex offender

By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer | Thursday, March 31, 2005 12:46 AM PST ∞

MURRIETA ---- Angry moms and dads turned up the heat Wednesday on a sex offender, who recently moved into their neighborhood, in an effort to force him to move somewhere else.

A group of about 50 parents, many of them with children in tow, spent much of the day picketing near the corner of Mapleton Street and Iris Lane, just yards from the home of Edison Martinez Mercado, 42.

The man was convicted in the late 1990s of several counts of child molestation, according to the state attorney general's Megan's Law Web site and officials with the state parole office.

"I'll be out here as long as I have to be until he's out of here," said Andi Rapagnani, 27, who has an 11-year-old son and lives directly behind Mercado.

The signs the parents carried drew honks of support from passersby: "Honk if you hate child molesters," "Child molesters not welcome," "Convicted child molester Edison M. Mercado lives near you," and "Mapleton has a new elementary school, a park, walking trails, bus stops, lots of kids and a child molester."

Officials with the state parole office in Escondido said Wednesday that Mercado served three years in state prison, starting in 1999. And in January, he completed three years on parole.

Parole Supervising Agent Bruce Van Dyke said Mercado was sentenced to state prison for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14. Van Dyke noted, however, that Mercado is considered neither a high risk nor a sexually violent predator. He said that he could not provide any additional details on the nature of Mercado's crimes.

As a convicted sex offender, Mercado is required to register with law enforcement wherever he lives. A spokesman for the Murrieta Police Department said Wednesday that Mercado has registered with that department.

The community of Mapleton sits just off Scott Road at the northern edge of Murrieta. There are about 560 homes there and many households have young children.

Mercado could not be reached for comment Wednesday. However, his father, Gregorio Mercado, 82, said that the pressure is taking a toll on the family.

"It hurts me because they are saying bad things," Gregorio said. "We are just doing the best we can."

A 19-year-old woman answered the door at Mercado's house, Wednesday. She declined to give her name, but identified herself as the man's sister-in-law. She said that seven adults and six children, two of whom are Mercado's, live in the house.

Asked about the neighborhood parents who are protesting against Mercado, the woman said, "They just say the same thing over and over again ---- it's like they don't have a life; it's pretty sad."

She said that other children in the neighborhood have already threatened her 10-year-old nephew over Mercado's presence on their street.

"I just try and mind my own business and they should too," the woman said.

Kelly Banks, 36, lives next door to Mercado, with her husband and four children, ages 3, 5, 10 and 13. She said that many parents in the neighborhood are afraid to let their children play outside since they learned that Mercado is living in their midst.

"What are you going to do, lock your kids up?" Banks asked. "He's out of prison and now we're in prison."

Several parents said they first learned that Mercado had moved into their neighborhood, when one parent saw the man's name, photo, address and crimes on the Megan's Law database on the attorney general's Web site about 10 days ago. The man printed up fliers warning residents of Mercado's presence in the area and distributed them throughout the neighborhood.

Some neighbors began putting up signs on their lawns, advising people that Mercado is a convicted sex offender living near them and giving his address.

Tiffany Links, who lives on a nearby street, said Mercado's wife began handing out copies of a letter allegedly written by her husband.

Dated March 24, the letter begins: "My name is Edison Mercado and yes I am a sex offender." In the letter, the person claiming to be Mercado, admits that he had committed the offenses against a 14-year-old girl, "two weeks before her 15th birthday." He wrote that after his prison term, during his three years on parole, he attended weekly sex-offender rehabilitation sessions with a doctor at the Escondido parole office.

"I am not a child predator. I promise you that I will not approach any child in this neighborhood," the letter states.

The letter apologizes for the commotion and fear that Mercado's presence has created in the area.

"I truly understand your situation. I made bad choices in the past but I am starting a new life, please give me one chance," the letter states.

Banks said that it is simply unacceptable for a child molester to live in a neighborhood with so many children. She said a friend of hers put it best when she said: "You put an alcoholic in a bar and before you know it, he'll order a drink."

As soon as they learned about Mercado, some parents, including Rapagnani, began calling the Menifee Union School District to pressure it into changing a school bus stop on the corner of Iris and Mapleton to another location.

A school district official confirmed Wednesday that the school district received many parent phone calls asking for the change.

"Because we came across information that a convicted child molester was living on Iris, we moved the stop," said Dan Wood, the district's assistant superintendent for business services.

Not everyone in the neighborhood is happy with the picketers and signs in the neighborhood.

A homeowner living on Mercado's street said that she recently put her home up for sale.

"Now, I'm stuck, because nobody's going to want to buy my home," said the woman, who declined to give her name. The woman's real estate agent said she shares the concern.

"No one is going to want to live up the street from a sex offender," said Alma Rodriguez, a real estate agent with Century 21 Tri-Valley in Murrieta. "Homes are going to be going down in value until he moves out of here."

Rodriguez said that sex offenders can be anywhere. So rather than drawing a lot of negative attention to the neighborhood by picketing and putting up signs, "parents should just start taking care of their kids; then they wouldn't have to worry about who is living next door."

Barry Links, 33, Tiffany's husband, said he has talked to other homeowners in the neighborhood whose homes are for sale "who have asked us not to picket."

"I understand their concern, but our children's safety is far more important than anyone's financial interest," Links said.

The Links' daughter, 9-year-old Miranda, stood on the corner of Iris Lane and Mapleton Street Wednesday morning with her mother and other picketing parents. She said she doesn't like it that Mercado lives in her neighborhood.

"I think it's scary," Miranda said. "We want him to move far away."

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or wbennett@californian.com.

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