Voiceofsandiego.org is reporting that City Council candidate John Hartley pleaded no contest to publicly engaging in a lewd act.
Hartley was arrested on March 27 after reports from a Kensington resident that he had urinated into a cup and masturbated in his truck while it was parked in the 4600 block of Vista Street. He was booked on one count of indecent exposure and one count of soliciting a lewd act. He will be placed on three years probation, pay a $500 fine and must stay away from the Vista Street home, according to the agreement made today in San Diego Superior Court by Asst.
Yesterday, the U-T’s Gerry Braun wrote a fine column on the whole Hartley affair, pointing out that under Jessica’s Law, approved by voters in 2006, Hartley’s offense qualifies him as a sex offender. Hartley may be subject to a new city law that makes it illegal for registered sex offenders to live within 2,000 feet of a school, park, library, amusement center or other area where children gather. Likewise, sex offenders can’t come within 300 feet of any of those spots. Doesn’t matter if you molested a child or whipped it out in public view—you’re banished. Hartley was arrested on March 24, I believe. The law was signed by the mayor on March 14 and takes effect 30 days after that. So, he just might have slipped by. Barring a successful legal challenge by four registered sex offenders, he’ll be subject to the 2,000-foot residency restriction under Jessica’s Law which, unlike the city law, applies only to schools and parks.
Last point and then I’ll let ya’ll go: there’s a debate tonight among District 3 candidates at Christ United Presbyterian Church, 3025 Fir St. in Golden Hill at 6 p.m. Bet it’ll be packed.
Update: The forum was at 6:45, not 6. Oops. And Hartley was a no-show. Also, as the U-T points out, the charge that Hartley pleaded no-contest to, committing a lewd act in public, doesn’t require him to register as a sex offender. The city attorney’s office, the U-T reports, dropped the indecent exposure charge, which is included in the recently expanded list of offenses that require a person to register as a sex offender.
