Molester won’t get out

SANTA ANA — A former Costa Mesa resident described by law enforcement officials as a serial child molester, and who was scheduled to be released from prison today, will remain incarcerated because federal prosecutors plan to file new charges against him, officials said.

The news of federal charges against George Joseph England, 65, came as Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas was addressing the media Thursday morning and warning of the threat that England would pose to the public if he were released.

A press aide interrupted the district attorney during his remarks to inform Rackauckas of the development.

“Now they’re going to be able to bring charges and keep him in custody,” a visibly surprised Rackauckas told reporters. “The people of Orange County are very glad, very relieved that the United States attorney is going to file charges.”

The nature of the charges was not immediately clear, but Rackauckas said they involve allegations of child pornography and possible violations of the Mann Act, which makes transporting a person across state lines for illegal sexual activity a federal crime.

The charges are expected to be filed by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. England was living in West Palm Beach, Fla., until his arrest in 2005.

Rackauckas said England will be arrested and transported from Cochran State Prison and extradited to Florida.

The new charges could result in a life sentence, he said.

“I think there’s a very good chance that this person will never be released,” Rackauckas said.

A news release issued by Rackauckas after his news conference said charges were expected to be filed against England in Florida as early as Thursday.

England, a former Costa Mesa resident who was convicted in 1977 of sexually assaulting three girls but then went on the lam for 29 years, was due to be released from prison today after serving slightly more than three years for his crimes, prosecutors say.

He was denied parole in September but has served out the rest of his sentence.

Officials from the state Department of Mental Health had decided that England does not meet the criteria of a sexually violent predator and cannot be held indefinitely in a state mental hospital.

Rackauckas vehemently disagreed with that finding and decided to warn the public of England’s release.

“The mental evaluators’ opinions defy common sense,” he said. “How could they possibly conclude that England no longer poses a threat to the community?”

The district attorney’s office had been working with federal prosecutors in Florida to help them file charges and block England’s release. Up until Thursday morning, the district attorney had thought that those efforts were unsuccessful.

Before the news conference, prosecutors screened a video in which Jackie Zudis, a Florida woman now in her early 40s, described how England paid her family to “adopt” her from Vietnam in 1972, then allegedly sexually assaulted her during the course of 11 years.

The FBI conducted the interview — which led to the new federal charges — on Monday.

She described having been molested when she was as young as 3 or 4, raped beginning when she was 5, impregnated and forced to have as many as eight abortions and forced to have sex with dogs.

“I’m still a victim,” an emotional Zudis says in the video. “I’m still paying for everything he has done.”

Zudis is married and lives in Florida.

Daily Pilot reporter Joseph Serna contributed to this report.