Chelsea King Murdered by Released Sex Offender
by James Buchanan

An ABC news article reports “Searchers found a body today believed to be 17-year-old San Diego high school student Chelsea King, who went missing when she went for a run in a park near her home last week, the San Diego County sheriff said. Suspect John Albert Gardner is being held on suspicion of murder in the disappearance of Chelsea King… Authorities said he was arrested after a piece of King’s clothing containing DNA evidence was found near the California shoreline in the park where she was last seen jogging. The body was found in a shallow grave 10 feet from the shore of Lake Hodges, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said today at a news conference… The discovery came six days after King went missing on Feb. 25 and two days after police arrested John Albert Gardner III, a convicted sex offender whose DNA they said was found on King’s clothing near where police believe she was abducted. Police said Gardner, who was arrested in 2000 for committing lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, may also be connected to the disappearance of Amber DuBois, a 14-year-old who disappeared near San Diego on her way to school in February…. (Gardner) served five years of a six-year prison sentence and was released, even though a psychiatrist told the court that Gardner ‘would be a continued danger to underage girls in the community.’ ….In 2000, Gardner pleaded guilty to committing a forcible lewd act on a 13-year-old girl after she testified that she escaped after he tried to strangle her. ”
The John and Ken Show in Los Angeles discussed this case noting that John Albert Gardner committed a brutal sexual assault on a 13 year old whom he lured to his apartment with the promise of watching a movie when he was 21 years old. The girl was beaten on the head and had a red mark on her neck. The victim believes she may have passed out briefly during the assault while Gardner was strangling her. The maximum penalty for a sexual assault on a child is 30 years. The authorities should have charged Gardner with attempted murder for the strangling. The psychiatrist who interviewed Gardner believed that Gardner was in denial that he had done anything wrong. The psychiatrist recommended that Gardner get the maximum 30 year sentence. If that had been done. Chelsea King would still be alive today.
While the people of California support “tough on crime” laws, liberal prosecutors and judges appear to bend over backwards to reduce sentences and let dangerous criminals get lesser sentences in plea bargains. The authorities had rock solid evidence and an eyewitness to John Gardner committing attempted strangulation and a brutal sexual assault on a child. There was absolutely no sane reason to let this man escape with a plea bargain and a five year prison term. (more…)











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