CONVICTED RAPIST MOVED OUT OF AREA RUNNER INITIATES ACTION FROM CORRECTIONS OFFICIALS.Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer PALMDALE - A twice-convicted rapist who has been moved around the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley by Department of Corrections officials for the past three months was moved out Friday at the urging of a local state assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. . Ismael Gabriel Lopez, 41, convicted of sexual assaults on two teen-age girls, was moved to an undisclosed location outside the valley after Assemblyman George Runner George C. Runner, Jr. (born March 25 1952 in Scotia, New York) is a Republican California State Senator, who represents the 17th Senate District, which includes portions of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County and Ventura County. , R-Lancaster, met with Department of Corrections officials to discuss his removal from the Antelope Valley. ``(Corrections officials) saw that this was an incorrect placement for this individual,'' Runner said in an interview Friday. ``I appreciate the fact that the Department of Corrections was so responsive.'' Released from state prison in September, Lopez was placed by state parole officials in a hotel in Lancaster in October, then last week in an apartment in downtown Palmdale. Following news reports of his presence in Palmdale and criticism from local officials, parole officials moved him back to a Lancaster hotel, less than an hour before sheriff's deputies were going to notify neighbors of Lopez's presence. Parole officials said they feared acts of vigilantism Taking the law into one's own hands and attempting to effect justice according to one's own understanding of right and wrong; action taken by a voluntary association of persons who organize themselves for the purpose of protecting a common interest, such as liberty, property, or against Lopez. Lopez registered with the Lancaster station as a sex offender sex offender n. generic term for all persons convicted of crimes involving sex, including rape, molestation, sexual harassment and pornography production or distribution. , as required by state law, on Monday and was expected to remain at the hotel until permanent placement for him in Lancaster could be found. On Wednesday, Runner met in Sacramento with DOC officials and asked that Lopez be removed from the Antelope Valley all together. On Friday, Runner received a phone call telling him that Lopez had been moved out of the valley. Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Heimerich said department records show that Lopez was scheduled to be moved by Friday. ``We have that he has been moved to another part of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County,'' Heimerich said. The records did not give a reason for the move, he said. Lopez has spent most of his life in prison for crimes ranging from drunk driving and strong-arm robbery to possession of a controlled substance controlled substance n. a drug which has been declared by federal or state law to be illegal for sale or use, but may be dispensed under a physician's prescription. and providing false identification to a police officer. He was convicted for the sexual assault of a 17-year-old Buena Park Buena Park (bwā`nə), city (1990 pop. 68,784), Orange co., S Calif.; inc. 1953. Food processing, the manufacture of aircraft, and tourism are important to the city's economy. girl in January 1978. Released in 1979, Lopez was convicted in 1985 of sexually assaulting a Covina teen-ager. Parole violations and fresh convictions kept him behind bars on and off until his release on parole in September. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Ismael Gabriel Lopez Moved out of Antelope Valley |
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