Registered sex offenders in Orange County are pretty limited when it comes to where they can go in public to get a little fresh air and fitness thanks to a 2011 ban that prohibits them from spending time at public parks in several OC cities.Recently, a 51-year-old Garden Grove man with convictions on his record for child annoyance and indecent exposure was arrested for playing tennis at a public park in Irvine.
In June 2011, Irvine joined the growing list of cities to enact a ban on sex offenders in city parks.
Jean Pierre Nguyen was busted in early September when he went to Irvine's Citrus Glen Park to play some tennis, according to City News Service. Nguyen had previously signed a notice indicating he was banned from parks in several OC cities and in the county, however Nguyen said he did not remember Irvine being among those forbidden areas.
It was his probation officer who got wind of Nguyen's sporty new pastime, and that officer contacted local authorities. His probation stemmed from a guilty plea entered this summer on a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure; Nguyen had approached a woman on the street while he was behind the wheel of his vehicle. "Let's go for a ride and we can go play," he had said to her, pointing at his groin area. He then blocked her path with his car, and she could see him touching himself with his shorts pulled down. Nguyen was expected to report to jail by September 14 to serve 120 days.
Now Nguyen--whose prior crimes date back to 1996--has been sentenced to spend 168 days in jail for violating the Irvine ordinance that prohibits registered sex offenders from frequenting city parks.
