California Sexually Violent Predator Missing After GPS Monitor Tampered
Merle Wakefield, a 69-year-old convicted child sex offender on conditional release, disappeared from a San Diego worksite after his GPS monitor triggered a tamper alert. Authorities are still searching for him as local officials criticize the state's release program.
A convicted child sex offender on conditional release is missing after his GPS monitor sent a tamper alert from a San Diego worksite, prompting a search by local authorities and sharp criticism from county officials.
Merle Wakefield, 69, was working in Rancho Bernardo early Friday when his monitoring device alerted to «Tamper Mode» at about 3:30 a.m., according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. Liberty Healthcare, the state contractor supervising him, responded to the location and found the device removed and Wakefield gone. The company notified the sheriff's office and San Diego police.
By Sunday, Wakefield remained at large. The sheriff's office said it «shares the community's concerns over Merle Wakefield's disappearance» and was still actively looking for him. «We have been working diligently to locate him,» the agency said, asking the public to report any sightings or information that could help find him.
Wakefield is wanted for violating the terms of his conditional release. He was convicted in 1980 and 1991 of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 and rape by force, according to the sheriff's office. He has been on conditional release since November 2024.
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond wrote on Facebook on Sunday that more than 48 hours had passed since Wakefield removed his GPS monitor and walked away. He called Wakefield «a convicted child molester and violent rapist» and accused the state of saying nothing publicly about his disappearance.
Desmond said Wakefield was gone by the time Liberty Healthcare arrived after the GPS alert. «That's how easy it was,» he wrote in an earlier post. «The state released him into our community in November 2024 and promised he'd be monitored and supervised. Less than two years later, he's missing and wanted.»
Local officials had warned about Wakefield's release before it happened. A San Diego judge granted him a transient release in October 2024 rather than placing him in a designated home, according to reporting at the time. It was the third attempt to place him in San Diego County. An earlier proposal would have placed Wakefield in a Poway home near a school and park, prompting residents to rally against it.
Poway Mayor Steve Vaus opposed that location and argued that allowing Wakefield to live without a fixed address would make it harder for the public to know where he was. «It's a shell game that puts a community at risk,» Vaus said about the transient release.
The San Diego County District Attorney's Office also opposed releasing Wakefield without a fixed residence, citing concerns about limited monitoring and supervision. Spokesperson Tanya Sierra said the Department of State Hospitals and Liberty Healthcare needed to find suitable housing where people granted conditional release could be closely monitored.
State Sen. Brian Jones raised his own concerns about where Wakefield would stay. He said Wakefield might end up on the streets or in a hotel at taxpayer expense. «Supposedly, he's going to have a tracking device,» Jones said at the time.
Jones had also called for an audit of California's sexually violent predator program. The audit found that about 36% of participants had violated the terms of their release. Jones criticized the program's cost and argued that the state should keep sexually violent predators in hospitals rather than place them in communities.
The California Department of State Hospitals pushed back on criticism of the release process, saying the court ultimately decides whether someone designated a sexually violent predator can be conditionally released. The department said its supervision program used GPS monitoring, unannounced home visits and surveillance, and that breaking the rules could send someone back to a state hospital. Wakefield's court order called for 24-hour in-person supervision wherever he stayed, according to reporting published before the hearing to finalize his release.
Desmond renewed his objection after Wakefield disappeared. «I've fought these placements from day one,» he wrote. «These people do not belong back out in the community. They belong in a state hospital or in jail. As long as Sacramento's law keeps putting them in our neighborhoods, families are going to keep paying the price.»
Wakefield is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighs 230 pounds and has brown eyes, according to the sheriff's office. Authorities warned anyone who sees him not to approach or contact him and to call 911 or local law enforcement.
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