Self-described pedophile Jack McClellan said he is leaving California after a judge ordered him to stay away permanently from places where children gather.
“I have to leave the state, really, I can’t live here under this Orwellian protocol,” he told KABC-TV. “It’s nightmarish.”
Prosecutors had dropped charges against McClellan, stemming from his two arrests on campus, but a judge upheld a restraining order against him Friday, barring him from being within 10 yards of areas children frequent, such as schools, playgrounds and child care centers.
McClellan was seen at Franz Hall near the Infant Development Program, a university day care center, on Aug. 13. Police arrested him for allegedly violating his restraining order, then released and ordered him to stay away from the campus.
But he was arrested again when university police found him giving an interview to television station KTLA in a campus parking lot. He had a camera with him at the time, but he said there was not any film in it during the interview.
McClellan was released from jail on Aug. 21 after prosecutors decided against pursuing a criminal case accusing him of violating Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig’s initial order.
Prosecutors said that since Sandvig did not give McClellan proper notice of a hearing required to argue the restraining order’s merits, they could not pursue the case.
McClellan gained publicity because of his Web site, where he openly discussed his attraction to young girls.
He also published photographs of children that he took in public places. The Web site was removed by his Internet service provider over a month ago.
Sandvig’s new restraining order is a more specific version of the original one issued earlier in August and includes a restriction on contacting, videotaping or photographing children without a parent or guardian’s written consent.
If McClellan violates the injunction, parents, guardians and other interested parties may choose to sue him.
As he left the hearing, McClellan told reporters, “I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”
Officials from the Infant Development Program declined a request for an interview, citing it as a police matter and instead released a statement via e-mail.
“We were well-prepared and will continue to take every step to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of the children in our care,” the statement read.
While the judge explained the reasoning behind his decision to issue the permanent injunction, he said he realized there could be arguments that his order is too broad and unconstitutional, since it is so specific.
“Minor children are a group that do need extra protection because they can’t be watched 24/7,” the judge said.
Attorney Robert J. Wilson, who represented McClellan, said he was acting at the request of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, but during the proceedings, he was notified by the bailiff that the ACLU would not be taking up the case and said he would also not be representing McClellan.
“So Mr. McClellan is going to represent himself,” he said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.