Sex Offender Moves To Valley Springs From North Dakota

VALLEY SPRINGS (CBS13) - The Calaveras County Sheriff's Office is alerting residents of a registered sex offender whose moved into a Valley Springs neighborhood.

"The fact that that's moved into the neighborhood is a little scary," said Valley Springs resident Jessie Casillas.

According to the sheriff's office, 35-year-old Jason Buckley was relocated from North Dakota to Valley Springs just two weeks after getting out of prison.

"Maybe they thought it was remote out here but this section is not. We're very residential," Casillas said.

The North Dakota Sex Offender Registry shows, at 20 years old, Buckley was convicted of sexually assaulting two minors. Now, 15 years later, he lives right near an elementary school.

"They could have picked out in the middle of nowhere," Casillas said.

So why was Buckley relocated to California? Sacramento attorney Ken Rosenfeld explains Buckley is considered a sexually violent predator, a title that applies to particularly egregious sex offenders.

After completion of a state-run program, a sexually violent predator can be released from prison but can only live in 20 states, including California.

"The supervision of this person is going to be so much higher," Rosenfeld said. "He will have to register once every three months instead of once a year. He might have to do lie detectors and other exams."

Rosenfeld says Buckley will be monitored extremely closely.

"Bottom line is this isn't a secret. The sheriffs have to know about it," Rosenfeld said.

The Calaveras County Sheriff's Office is making it clear Buckley is not currently wanted by law enforcement and their post was only a release of information.