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Help sought from immigrants in Cal. pedophile probe
Wed Jun 22, 2005 04:06 PM ET
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In an appeal to immigrant communities, a California prosecutor said on Wednesday he will not report illegal immigrants if they come forward as victims of a convicted pedophile suspected of thousands of sex acts with children.

Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Fein called on undocumented immigrants to help investigators in their probe of Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller.

San Jose, California, police last month found seven notebooks with 36,000 entries in Schwartzmiller's home that they believe chronicle sex acts with children as he moved across the United States since the 1970s.

He faces seven felony counts of child molestation in Santa Clara County Superior Court, stemming from accused sex abuse of two 12-year boys.

Authorities will not comment on the immigration status of the two boys, widely reported to be illegal immigrants. Santa Clara County has a large immigrant population, including legal and undocumented immigrants from Mexico.

Schwartzmiller, 63, is scheduled to enter a plea to the charges on July 26. If convicted, he could receive a maximum sentence of 105 years to life in prison.

"A victim is a victim whether they're undocumented or documented," Fein told reporters. "They should not be afraid to come forward. The most important thing here is making sure that if they're a victim we can take care of them and find out what happened and we can help them."

"Our concern is not to prosecute any victims that come forward," Fein said.

Schwartzmiller's public defender was not immediately available for comment.

Schwartzmiller's case has stunned local authorities. Detectives have said they have never seen anything like the meticulous records found in Schwartzmiller's home, which he shared with another convicted child molester he met in prison.

Detectives have found Schwartzmiller has a criminal record involving molestation and lewd behavior investigations and convictions dating to 1970 in three states, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon.