The suspect, 31-year-old John D. Everage, was set to be arraigned in superior court Wednesday afternoon. Everage has faced sex charges before. This time he's facing justice yet again, primarily because of the Megan's Law Web site.
"I was terrified. I mean, I couldn't think straight. I was just worried about the safety of my daughter," said Emma.
Emma, who doesn't want to give out her last name, talked about her reaction when her 10th-grade daughter told her John Everage accosted her and tried to get her into his car on her way home from school last week.
"She never turned her back or anything. She just kept on walking back, always keeping her eyes towards the predator, and she was just trying to do as best as she could under those circumstances to stay safe and calm," said Emma.
Emma says she called Riverside Police immediately, but didn't stop there. At home, she pulled up the Megan's Law Web site, a state-funded Web page listing convicted sex offenders by location. That's when she pulled up Everage's page, showing the suspect, a high-risk offender, John D. Everage. When Emma's daughter saw the picture, she said it was a match.
"She went into a panic, froze, cried," said Emma. "She says, 'That's him.' I mean, you can see, she's a little dark, but she just went white. I could see her expression, terrified."
Her daughter told detectives, who say she also identified the suspect by photo lineup. Police say this is a good example of not only the usefulness of this Web site, but a good example of how to be a good citizen.
"She did all the right things," said Steve Frasher, Riverside Police Dept. "She reported it right away when she learned about the resource that was available. They made use of it, and then reported that back to the police department. They didn't try vigilante action or anything like that, and now this man's behind bars."
Emma says her daughter now carries a whistle to and from school, and she really thanks detectives and that Megan's Law Web site for putting this suspect behind bars.
