Authorities say that police have arrested John Albert Gardner, 30, in connection to the mysterious disappearance of Chelsea King last week. Citing strong physical evidence as a factor, they arrested the registered sex offender Sunday, February 28, 2010.
Chelsea King, 17, from Poway County, CA., went missing last Thursday.
John Albert Gardner Arrested In Disappearance Of Chelsea King ( Video )
Video after the jump.
Chelsea King, 17, young, beautiful honor student went for a run in broad daylight last Thursday afternoon.
She was last seen jogging near Rancho Bernardo park.
Kelly and Brent King, parent’s of Chelsea, describe their daughter as “She is every parent’s dream, bright, outgoing and compassionate.”
Now police have arrested John Albert Gardner after police linked him to Chelsea King through hard physical evidence.
We are hearing possibly DNA, and also hearing that her clothes have been found and there is a water search taking place at this time. While the police are saying there is still hope they will find Chelsea alive, they are considering rape and murder charges for John Gardner.
It doesn’t make sense to me either!
San Diego Police Chief Bill Gore said “specific criminal charges are still being determined.”
John Albert Gardner is from Lake Elsinore, roughly 75 miles north of San Diego, CA. He is required under Megan’s Law to register as a sex offender. He was required to register as a sex offender after his conviction for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14.
He is also a suspect in the assault of a jogger from Colorado Springs last December 27th. Rancho Bernardo park is full of running trails and quite popular with joggers and others.
I hate to type it, but as the day wears on and more information becomes available, Chelsea King’s story is unlikely to have a positive outcome.
John Gardner, while a suspect, is still innocent until proven otherwise and we must not forget that.
However, I can’t help but wonder if the ” John Albert Gardner Arrested In Disappearance Of Chelsea King ” story will be the catalyst to bringing about change. Real change, as in a one strike law for sex offenders.
Were John Gardner in jail, the missing Chelsea King would be a non-story.
We offer our prayers and support to the King family and friends.
As of now, 2:30 EST, after the discovery of Chelsea’s clothes, police are searching the waters for a body.
Check back for updates. Watch the video below for more info. Click here for back-story.
Is it time to revise our sex offender laws?
Your thoughts?
Update 3/2/2010 here
March 1st, 2010 at 12:17 pm
I am ALL FOR a one strike law for sex offenders. Let’s pray that this, as you say, will be the catalyst to bringing about that change…
My heart and prayers go out to the King family.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:19 pm
It has always been ludicrous to me that sex offenders are given chance after chance after chance. One-strike should have been implemented with the first convicted sex offender in history. These people are addicted to this. And you know what they say: Once an addict, ALWAYS an addict. The only way to keep an addict from falling off the wagon is for the addict to be removed from his addiction. In this case, sex offenders need to be removed from society. Keep them in jail. There is no rehabilitation for them.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:27 pm
I agree 1000%. I’m not talking about the guy that takes a pee in the park or the person that smacks someone’s behind at an office party…the real sex offenders need life without parole, or the death penalty in my opinion. They cannot be fixed, anymore than a rabid animal.
I have pity for the rabid animals, tho. None for the sex offender.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:09 pm
You say an interesting thing here. John Gardner has not yet been convicted, he is simply a suspect. Innocent until proven guilty is how we do things in America. To say that the Chelsea King issue would be a non-story if he were still in prison is not really taking that idea into light.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:14 pm
OK..I think you missed the point. Perhaps Chelsea would still be a story…but John Gardner’s name wouldn’t be attached to it had he been imprisoned for life after his conviction.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:16 pm
So you want to be a ruthless society in which we just lock people up for life for non-violent offenses? You want to raise your children in the kind of society that views people as un-rehabilitable? Anyone who says that is sick. You’re disgusting and you’re worse than any criminal. I don’t believe in locking people up for life for non-violent offenses. And, guess what, no matter how many people you lock up, the world is still going to be dangerous. Women who take walks and jogs by themselves will always be in danger no matter how many people you lock up. The only thing is that you will be sentencing many men to life in prison who were actually innocent and that’s the biggest tragedy of all.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:32 pm
@Gss: My apologies…somewhere in my brain I swear I remember being told that rape and murder were acts of violence…gee whiz…now you’ve come to share your wisdom and it’s too late….let’s turn them all free and they can go live in your town …
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:59 am
ASSAULT: an intentional act by one person that creates an apprehension in another of an imminent harmful or offensive contact.
An assault is carried out by a threat of bodily harm coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in either criminal or civil liability. Generally, the common law definition is the same in criminal and Tort Law. There is, however, an additional Criminal Law category of assault consisting of an attempted but unsuccessful Battery.
Statutory definitions of assault in the various jurisdictions throughout the United States are not substantially different from the common-law definition.
RAPE: A criminal offense defined in most states as forcible sexual relations with a person against that person’s will.
Rape is the commission of unlawful sexual intercourse or unlawful sexual intrusion.
MURDER: The unlawful killing of another human being without justification or excuse.
Murder is perhaps the single most serious criminal offense. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the killing, a person who is convicted of murder may be sentenced to many years in prison, a prison sentence with no possibility of Parole, or death.
@GSS: What part of these three words does not strike you as violent? Gardner was incarcerated for five years because he commited sexual assault on a thirteen year old girl. He also tried to strangle her. He confessed to the crime. That sounds pretty violent to me. Concerning Chelsea King, HIS DNA was found on HER underwear. That’s some damning evidence if you ask me. Now, I’ll concede that a VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE of people are wrongfully convicted because they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, but DNA does not lie. He is being arraigned tomorrow on rape and murder charges because he raped Chelsea King. Now, a small part of me still holds out hope that she is not dead, but I hate to admit that it is not looking good, as they still have not found her yet. But plenty of murder cases have been tried without a body and that seems to be the way this is going. Gardner has a history of violence and let’s just face it, he’s not the brightest bulb on the strand for getting caught twice. We’re all better off with people like him behind bars or underground.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:15 am
I think that this guys is being used as a prototype to enforce the change to the law. I think it’s unfair he be treated the way the media is hounding him. None of you know the details of his first trial unless you were the judge or prosecuting attornies. You know nothing and should not judge.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:50 am
@Anonymous: His previous case is public record. He was tried and convicted for the sexual assault of an eighth grader. How much more detail do we need? Documented in the court records are the prosecutor’s AND a psychologist’s testimonies that Gardner should not have been released to society because he is a threat and will continue to attempt to do harm to young girls due to his predatory nature.
But let’s get back on the main subject that Joanne has suggested for discussion – not John Gardner in particular, but all sex offenders in general. Why are they constantly released, re-arrested for subsequent sexual offenses, and released AGAIN? Our judicial system needs to reprioritize. Stop arresting kids for possession of pot and start protecting those kids from sexual predators.