Nearly 400 convicted sex offenders live in and around the Los Angeles Koreatown neighborhood, according to a new study.
In a series of recent sex crimes in Los Angeles, including in Koreatown, the community has been on high alert.
A Koreatown resident Joy Kim, 28, was startled by a notification from Citizen, a crime alert app she downloaded to her phone, that alerted her to a newly registered sex offender in the house behind her home on September 4. The offender had assaulted a victim with a blunt weapon after committing a sex crime.
“I thought, ‘This can’t be in my neighborhood’,” Kim said, ”but when I found out, I was scared, and now I’m more cautious even when I walk in front of my house at night or go to stores.”
The California Department of Justice’s Megan’s Law website, meganslaw.ca.gov, provides a list of sex offenders living in a neighborhood by address.
The state’s Megan’s Law requires convicted sexual predators, including repeat rapists and sex offenders, to register their addresses with the state for the next 10 years after their release from prison, making their information available to the public.
A search of the website found 381 registered sex offenders within a two-mile radius of Wilshire Boulevard and Normandie Avenue, which is the center of Koreatown. That means there are nearly 400 people who have committed sex offenses in the last 10 years.
Among the neighborhoods that were marked separately for having more than one sex offender were 5th Street and Western Avenue, 3rd Street and Ardmore Avenue, and 6th and Catalina Streets. Worse yet, the number of “offenders in violation” – those who do not update their residence information or do not comply with the requirements of their sex offender status – was nearly 100.
Los Angeles Koreatown is one of the most sexually violent neighborhoods in the city. According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), there were a total of 3,012 sex-related crimes in Los Angeles last year. These include sexual assault, human trafficking (commercial sex act), and assault with sexual contact.
The LAPD’s Olympic Station, which serves Koreatown, reported a total of 165 sex-related crimes, the fifth highest in the city. Of these, “assault with sexual contact” and “sexual assault” accounted for 58 and 51 cases, respectively, or 66% of the total.
In June, at least three female students at a middle school in Koreatown were sexually assaulted by the same suspect. At the time, police released the identity of the suspect, Kenneth Tellez Ordonez, and revealed that he had contact with at least 13 minors.
By division, Central (283 cases), which includes Downtown LA, was the most severe, followed by 77th (208), Hollywood (190), and Southeast (173) police stations.
The fewest sex offenses were reported in the Hollenbeck Police Department, which includes Aliso Village and Boyle Heights with a total of 77.
Residents are taking prevention measures by installing apps that can help them locate sex offenders and their criminal histories. The Citizen app provides real-time incident and accident alerts and offers free notifications of sex offenders living in the neighborhood.
However, if you want to see more specific information beyond the offender’s name, you’ll need to subscribe to a paid application. Other sex offender tracking apps include OffenderWatch, Family Watchdog, Life360, and Safe Kid Zone, most of which provide basic information for free, but have paid options for more detailed features and alerts.
BY SUAH JANG, HOONSIK WOO [jang.suah@koreadaily.com]
