A convicted sexually violent predator who cut off his GPS monitor at a Rancho Bernardo warehouse remains at large. San Diego County supervisors want future placements frozen until he is found.
Merle Wakefield, 69, removed his GPS device around 3:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, while working a night shift at an Amazon warehouse in the 16000 block of Via Esprillo, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office said on X. He tossed the device and a secure cellphone into nearby bushes and disappeared.
Security video shows Wakefield getting into the passenger side of a white Tesla, according to a Sept. 28 court filing first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune. A Liberty Healthcare staffer arrived at the site roughly 20 minutes after the GPS alert. The staffer had planned to drive Wakefield home when his shift ended at 4 a.m.
Wakefield's car and car keys were found at his home. He has not been found.
He had been on conditional release since November 2024. Wakefield was convicted in 1981 of committing lewd acts with a minor under 14 and convicted in 1990 of rape by force. He was designated a sexually violent predator (SVP) after his release from prison in 1998.
Supervisors push to freeze placements
County Supervisor Jim Desmond wants to freeze all future SVP placements in San Diego County until Wakefield is caught and failures in the monitoring system are addressed.
"It was kind of a punch in the gut that this guy escaped so easily," Desmond told the Union-Tribune. "I was also surprised to learn this guy had a job and a car."
Desmond and Supervisor Joel Anderson are also fighting the proposed placement of two more sexually violent offenders approved for release to rural Boulevard. A court is scheduled to consider that location later in October.
Desmond said he has long tried to learn more about the rules governing what a person can do on conditional release but has been met with silence from state agencies. Sheriff Kelly Martinez called the fact that cutting off a GPS device is a misdemeanor "a bit problematic" because many investigative tools require a felony, the Union-Tribune reported. Law enforcement had to wait five business days to obtain a felony warrant.
A felony warrant was issued Friday, Oct. 2, for failure to register as a sex offender.
Residents seek answers on notification
Jeff Grace, a founding member of the Rancho Bernardo group Keep RB Safe, said the community should have been told Wakefield was working in the neighborhood.
"One thousand percent they should have notified us he was working here," Grace told the Union-Tribune.
Grace organized opposition in September 2021 that blocked a proposal to place a different sexually violent predator in a Rancho Bernardo home.
Sexually violent predators on conditional release in California are monitored by private contractor Liberty Healthcare, not by law enforcement. Liberty declined to comment and referred questions to the California Department of State Hospitals. The department declined to discuss Wakefield, citing patient privacy laws, but said participants may seek work if it is approved under the terms of their release.
The Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force, led by the Sheriff's Office, is leading the search. Wakefield is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 230 pounds, bald with brown eyes.
A reward of up to $1,000 is available for information leading to his arrest. Anyone with information can call the SAFE Task Force at 858-868-3200 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477. Authorities warn residents not to approach Wakefield but to call 911.
