85-year-old serial Orange County child molester denied release from state hospital

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- It took an Orange County jury about an hour to decide whether a serial sex offender should remain locked up in a California state hospital.

Judge Robert Knox's court clerk read the jury's verdict on Tuesday afternoon.

"We the jury in the above and titled action find it to be true that Sidney Nathaniel Landau remains a sexually violent predator," she said. "We, the jury in the above and titled action, find Sidney Nathaniel Landau not suitable for conditional release."

"He's been given chance after chance. He's still being given a chance in the hospital today, and he's not advancing through his treatment," said Orange County Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Hudson. "He's still a behavioral problem."

Landau was convicted of molesting boys in the 80s. After several parole violations in the 90s, he was classified as a sexually violent predator and committed to a mental hospital.

"There was nobody back then to protect those boys," Hudson said. "Those boys wish Landau was never released because they had to pay the price."

The 85-year-old was petitioning to be released. During the month-long trial, some experts testified that Landau was suitable for unconditional and conditional release.

"This is a civil case, and you're here to decide whether he continues to meet the criteria as a sexually violent predator to allow for him to be indefinitely committed to the state hospital," said Landau's defense attorney, Mark Kim.

Kim said Landau's advanced age, poor health, and chronic medical issues lowered the risk of reoffending.

"I'm sorry I did what I did to those children who will be messed up for the rest of their lives. I wish I could change things, but obviously, that's impossible," Landau's statement, which was read in court, said. "All I can change is me. I'll never hurt another person, especially a child."

However, Hudson said Landau suffers from pedophilic disorder, a lifelong condition, and is a threat to the community, especially children.

"What this law is designed to do is to prevent another child from having to come here and sit in that empty chair, because it will be that child who has to pay the price," Hudson said.

Landau was taken into custody after the verdict was read and will be transported to the state hospital in Coalinga.