Sexually Violent Predator Disappears After Cutting GPS Monitor

A convicted child sex offender was still missing Sunday, two days after his GPS monitor triggered a fraud alert at a San Diego job site and supervisors arrived to find him missing, authorities said.

Merle Wakefield, 69, was working in Rancho Bernardo when his device alerted in “sabotage mode” around 3:30 a.m. Friday, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.

Liberty Healthcare, the government contractor overseeing it, visited and found that the device had been removed and Wakefield was missing. The company notified the sheriff’s office and San Diego police.

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The most recent photo of Merle Wakefield, sought after his disappearance in San Diego County. (San Diego County Sheriff’s Office)

The sheriff’s office said Sunday that it “shares the community’s concerns regarding the disappearance of Merle Wakefield” and that he remains actively wanted.

“We worked diligently to locate him,” the agency said. He asked the public to report any sightings or information that could help find Wakefield.

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“It’s been over 48 hours since Merle Wakefield took off his GPS monitor and walked away. He’s still out there,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond wrote on Facebook on Sunday. He called Wakefield a “convicted pedophile and violent rapist” and accused the state of saying nothing publicly about his disappearance.

Wakefield is wanted for violating the terms of his parole, the sheriff’s office said. He was convicted in 1980 and 1991 of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 and forcible rape, according to the agency. He has been on parole since November 2024.

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A 2024 photo of Merle Wakefield, on parole since November of that year. (San Diego County Sheriff’s Office)

Desmond said Wakefield had left by the time Liberty Healthcare arrived after the GPS alert.

“It’s that simple,” he wrote in a previous article. “The state released him into our community in November 2024 and promised he would be monitored and monitored. Less than two years later, he is missing and wanted.”

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Local authorities had warned of Wakefield’s release before it took place. A San Diego judge granted him pretrial release in October 2024 rather than placing him in a designated home, Fox 5/KUSI reported at the time. This was the third attempt to place him in San Diego County.

An earlier proposal would have placed Wakefield in a Poway home near a school and a park, prompting residents to rally against it, according to the outlet. Poway Mayor Steve Vaus opposed this location and argued that allowing Wakefield to live without a fixed address would make it harder for the public to know where he was.

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A 2021 photo of Merle Wakefield, wanted for violating his parole conditions. (San Diego County District Attorney’s Office)

“It’s a shell game that puts a community at risk,” Vaus told Fox 5/KUSI of the transitional version.

The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office also opposed releasing Wakefield without a fixed residence, citing concerns about limited monitoring and supervision. Spokeswoman Tanya Sierra told the news outlet that the Department of State Hospitals and Liberty Healthcare need to find suitable housing where people on parole can be closely monitored.

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California Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones, R-San Diego, is pictured. (Reuters/Reuters photos)

State Sen. Brian Jones raised his own concerns about where Wakefield would remain. He told Fox 5/KUSI that Wakefield could end up on the streets or in a hotel at taxpayer expense.

“Presumably he will have a tracking device,” Jones said at the time.

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Jones had also requested an audit of California’s sexually violent predator program, the outlet reported. The audit found that approximately 36 percent of participants violated the conditions of their release. Jones criticized the cost of the program and argued that the state should keep sexually violent predators in hospitals rather than placing them in communities.

The California Department of State Hospitals pushed back against criticism of the release process, telling Fox 5/KUSI that the court ultimately decides whether a person designated as a sexually violent predator can be released on parole.

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The department said its supervision program uses GPS monitoring, unannounced home visits and surveillance, and that failure to follow the rules could send someone back to a state hospital. The outlet also reported that the Wakefield court order called for 24-hour in-person monitoring wherever he stayed. This report was released ahead of the hearing to finalize his release.

Desmond renewed his objection after Wakefield’s disappearance.

“I fought these placements from day one,” he wrote. “These people have no place in the community. They belong in a state hospital or in prison. As long as Sacramento’s law continues to place them in our neighborhoods, families will continue to pay the price.”

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Wakefield is 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 230 pounds and has brown eyes, according to the sheriff’s office. Authorities warned anyone who saw him not to approach or contact him and to call 911 or local law enforcement.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Senator Jones’ office and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office for comment.