Cary Jay Smith to be required once again to register as sex offender, officials say

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- Convicted sex offender Cary Jay Smith will once again be required to register as such, according to Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.

Spitzer initially told Eyewitness News that Gov. Gavin Newsom was expected to issue an executive order requiring Smith to do so but later retracted the statement.

According to Spitzer, the state Attorney General's Office had taken Smith off the sex offender list in 2005 when it was informed that no criminal records were found for Smith. Authorities in Orange County only learned of this when 59-year-old Smith was released from a mental hospital earlier this month following more than 20 years of confinement.

In a letter sent Friday to Spitzer, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the department has been "diligently trying to obtain documentation regarding this individual's criminal history from multiple criminal justice agencies, and we made renewed requests to the Orange County Superior Court. We are now in possession of documentation that we believe supports serving this individual with Notice of Sex Offender Registration Requirement."

Smith could be served with that order as early as Friday night.

Since his release, he has moved several times across Southern California, setting off warnings to local communities from local law enforcement. He is currently at a health care facility in Costa Mesa.

Sex offender and former Costa Mesa resident released from state mental hospital

A sex offender and former Costa Mesa resident held at a state mental hospital for more than 20 years has been released.

While Smith was confined to a mental hospital, he testified to having fantasies about raping and killing young boys, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. He also said he liked to go by Mr. RTK, standing for rape, torture, kill.

In 1985, Smith pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor sexual offense involving a child and was compelled to register as a sex offender; that requirement was removed by the state in 2005.

Smith was admitted to a psychiatric facility in 1999 after his wife provided a letter in which Smith described sex acts he wanted to perform on a 7-year-old boy who lived in their neighborhood.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office in 2002 filed 20 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor against him, but the charges were dismissed due to the statute of limitations..

Each community where he has moved has protested his presence and demanded he leave. In Lake Elsinore, an angry group showed up at the motel where he was staying and deputies had to keep them from going inside to confront Smith.

A sex offender who was recently released from a mental hospital has relocated to San Diego County after moving several times around Southern California since he was set free, authorities say.