Child Killer Will Not Move To Riverside County
Convicted child murderer Donald Schmidt, who sodomized a 3-year-old girl and drowned her in her own bathtub, will not be paroled to Riverside County, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
“This is great news for the children and residents of Riverside County,” said Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco. “The notion of sending a child killer to our county even though he has never lived here didn’t make sense and I’m thankful that option is no longer on the table.”
State officials made the decision following strong concerns from Riverside County officials and local legislators about Schmidt being paroled to an area where he has no ties.
In 1988, Schmidt – then 16 years old – sodomized and murdered a 3-year-old girl in the Santa Cruz County city of Lompico. After the brutal sexual abuse, Schmidt drowned the little girl in a bathtub in her home. Schmidt was convicted of the murder and, because of his age, was sentenced to a juvenile detention facility.
Now, 23 years later, Schmidt is scheduled to be paroled and placed back into the community.
Other counties in California have also successfully opposed his release.
There was a strong possibility that Schmidt, 38, could have been placed into a halfway house with registered sex offenders on Floral Avenue in Good Hope, an unincorporated area along Highway 74, between Lake Elsinore and Perris.
The home that was under consideration for his placement is less than a mile from Good Hope Elementary School which has a student population of more than 500. Schmidt has never lived in Riverside County. His only known connection is a substance abuse sponsor who lives in Lake Elsinore.
