An alert flew throughout the region this week that registered sex offender Jonathan Porter had walked out of state prison on March 5 without the GPS tracking bracelet he was supposed to be wearing, and that he was heading toward Frazier Park. He eluded parole officers by giving a false address in Lebec. Witnesses from the Mountain Communities who had aided investigators in his conviction were anxious when they learned his location was not being tracked.

Kern County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Dave Barker sounded the alert with Frazier Park Substation Sergeant Mark Brown, who in turn contacted regional media and law enforcement.

Porter has "a seven page rap sheet," KCSD Detective Bill Hakker said in an interview Tuesday when asked why Porter was allowed to "gate out" (leave the prison) without the tracking device.

"We’re looking into that right now," Hakker said, "somehow, he got out without it, and was given five days to register with his parole officer—but he gave a fake address and disappeared."

Porter was apprehended on Tuesday, March 10 in Palmdale at 9:20 p.m. "He was taken into custody in Los Angeles County," Lt. Barker reported early Wednesday morning. "He was out of the county without the permission of his parole officer—that is a violation right there."

Porter also failed to register as a sex offender with a valid statement of his address and to have the tracking bracelet applied.

Lt. Barker, a resident of the Mountain Communities, was the supervising sergeant of the Frazier Park substation when Porter was arrested for an assault in this area, which led to another in a long list of incarcerations and arrests. Since 1990, the record shows, Porter has been in and out of jail and prison for a collection of felony offenses. He has been arrested for, among other things, rape and assault, child abuse, statutory rape and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, according to Detective Hakker, who works with sex crime enforcement in Kern County.

Observers credit the quick action of Barker, Brown, the Kern County Public Information Office and cooperation of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office for Porter’s rapid apprehension.

This is part of the March 13, 2009 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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