A convicted sex offender arrested for allegedly trying to conceal his whereabouts by staying with his mother was free today on a $50,000 bond.
Charles Lee Smith, 56, was arrested Wednesday morning for alleged parole violations, including failing to register his actual home address with law enforcement, as required under state law.
He bailed out of the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta hours later.
Investigators with the Riverside County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) team had been looking for Smith since May, when they conducted a parole compliance check at a Hemet location listed as his home address and couldn’t find him, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The parolee, who is also facing elder abuse charges dating to last November, picked up his mail at the Hemet house, but allegedly had not lived there for two years, neighbors told SAFE team investigators.
Under California Penal Code section 290, sex registrants must notify law enforcement within five days of changing residences.
Investigators found him at his mother’s Menifee home, where he was arrested without incident, according to the D.A.’s office.
Smith has two 1989 sex-related convictions out of Orange County.
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