California never adopted the recommendation that the caseloads of agents supervising sex offenders be reduced, despite the urging of a blue-ribbon task force that was set up after an arrest in the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, and the deaths of others at the hands of those under the state's watch.
Instead, agent caseloads remain at levels as much as twice what the task force deemed safe, while duties for those agents have been greatly expanded.
Parole supervision information released to the Los Angeles Times shows that the parole agents of two Orange County sex offenders, now charged in the deaths of four women, at times carried caseloads more than double those called for by the task force in 2010, exceeding the state's own internal rules.
The call to improve the workload of those charged with watching sex offenders was ultimately set aside as being too costly.
Parole agents and labor representatives interviewed by The Times said agents are routinely assigned caseloads that far exceed the 20-to-1 ratio called for by the task force, and that some agents struggle with workloads as high as 50 to 1.
Although the state corrections department "gave considerable consideration" to the standards proposed by the task force, the recommendation was rejected, an agency spokeswoman said.
"Due to the expense to reduce every sex offender caseload to a 20-1 ratio it was not deemed feasible," corrections department spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said in written response to questions from The Times.
Instead, California set a 20-case cap only for those agents supervising the highest-risk sex offenders, a distinction the task force had rejected -- in part because one case it was investigating involved a low-risk offender. By policy, those supervising low-risk offenders can keep watch over as many as 40 offenders.
"That is criminal negligence ... you cannot do that," said Michael Taber, a retired state parole supervisor who was among the authors of the task force report. "When you do that, massive things are going to happen. People are going to die."
Franc Cano and Steven Gordon were arrested in April and charged with four counts of rape and murder in connection with the deaths of Kianna Jackson, 20, Josephine Monique Vargas, 34, Martha Anaya, 28, and Jarrae Estepp, 21. They have pleaded not guilty.
Two of the women disappeared from the Santa Ana area last October, when Cano and Gordon were under watch by state parole agents who had caseloads that at times ranged as high as 45. Only Cano remained on state parole at the time police believe the other two victims were killed.
Ondre Henry, president of the Parole Agents Assn. of California, said agents "consistently" have caseloads above 40 and almost all have more than 20 cases. The heavy workload hampers the ability of agents to oversee sex offenders and properly investigate their whereabouts tracked on GPS devices.
Had agents had time to dig into the GPS tracks of Gordon and Cano, he said, their suspicions might have been raised.
"In the case of Gordon and Cano, the problem is that yes, you can review the tracks. It's a very useful tool, but unless you can actually do the investigative work ... it kind of defeats the purpose. When you have caseload sizes that are so big, it's hard to drill into those specific factors," he said.
Taber, who started the first sex offender electronic monitoring unit in California and oversaw the training and work of case agents in Southern California for two decades, described the agents who supervised Gordon and Cano as "solid."
"These are the kind of people that I, as a citizen, would want in my community looking out for me," he said. "The problem is 45-to-1, or 40-to-1 [caseload ratios]. It's an impossibility."
The task force was one of several started after the 2009 and 2010 arrests of sex offenders Phillip Garrido and John Gardner. Garrido kidnapped Jaycee Dugard and held her captive for 18 years despite being monitored by state parole for many of those years. Gardner managed to avoid detection for numerous parole violations, and he was dropped from supervision before he raped and killed two teen girls in San Diego County.
The task force noted that state agents were burdened, especially by the use of time-intensive electronic monitoring equipment, and needed time to investigate the places where parolees lived and talk to those with whom they interacted.
Although the corrections department did not adopt the caseload limits, it did follow another recommendation that greatly increased agent workloads.
Agents were previously to review the GPS tracks of high-risk parolees only daily, and those considered low-risk were to be scanned only twice a month. But in 2012, agents were asked to make daily reviews of all sex offenders -- adding to their workload.
The California corrections department refuses to release the full supervision files that would show how closely Cano and Gordon were monitored, citing the unresolved case against the men. The Times has sued for the release of those records under the state public records act, arguing that they relate to an important public safety issue.
A list provided by the corrections department shows that Cano's supervision shifted numerous times from late 2009 to his arrest in 2014 as he moved among five primary agents and a sixth who provided "coverage" for six weeks. Gordon's records show a similar pattern of movement between agents.
Sex offenders are commonly passed between agents because of layoffs, promotions and vacations, Hoffman, the corrections spokeswoman, said. "Parole agents are trained to supervise different types of offenders and utilize the same supervision techniques depending upon the individual case," she said.
A veteran agent who supervises sex offenders in Southern California said the shuffling of caseloads has been exacerbated by layoffs within the agency.
"It is very common, and it is an issue. It is a big issue," said the agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized by the department to discuss his work.
He described parolees being reassigned to as many as four agents in four months. Those that take on a new offender have little insight into the subtle behavior shifts that do more to signal trouble than an offender's daily GPS tracks, he said.
Henry, the union president, said the state corrections department is currently negotiating over agent caseloads. The state, he said, has proposed raising the case load ceiling for those supervising high-risk offenders, from 20 parolees per agent to 30.
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
