The Antelope Valley Times

Your community. Your issues. Your news.

Sex offender on the loose after cutting ankle monitor [update: captured]

by •

Convicted sex offender Joseph Townsend is a 34-year-old white male, around 5 feet 7 inches tall, about 170 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information on Townsend’s location is encouraged to contact the Antelope Valley Parole Office at 661-729-0530 ext. 225.
Convicted sex offender Joseph Townsend is a 34-year-old white male, around 5 feet 7 inches tall, about 170 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information on Townsend’s location is encouraged to contact the Antelope Valley Parole Office at 661-729-0530 ext. 225.

UPDATED 2-10-16 @4:15 pm: Joseph Townsend was apprehended in Bullhead City, Arizona, around 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, by U.S. Marshals and CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety, according to California State Adult Parole Operations Supervisor Larry Dorsey. No further details were immediately available.

*****

LANCASTER – A paroled sex offender cut off his ankle monitor and disappeared Friday morning after local parole agents found child pornography on his cell phone, authorities said.

Joseph Townsend, 34, was last seen Friday, Feb. 5, near 140th Street East and Avenue Q in Lake Los Angeles, according to California State Adult Parole Operations Supervisor Larry Dorsey.

Earlier that morning, Townsend’s parole agent conducted a routine home visit at Townsend’s trailer on the 39000 block of 145th Street East, Dorsey said.

Townsend’s GPS monitor was found Friday, Feb. 5, in a laundry room about 50 feet away from Townsend’s trailer on the 39000 block of 145th Street East in Lake Los Angeles, authorities said.
Townsend’s GPS monitor was found Friday, Feb. 5, in a laundry room about 50 feet away from Townsend’s trailer on the 39000 block of 145th Street East in Lake Los Angeles, authorities said.

“During the course of the home visit, [the agent] received information that the parolee had child porn on his phone,” Dorsey said.

The agent seized the phone and left the location. Once the agent confirmed that child pornography was on the phone, the agent went to the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station to initiate the paperwork to take Townsend into custody, according to Dorsey.

During that time, Townsend cut off his GPS ankle monitor and vanished, Dorsey said.

After receiving a “master tamper” alert, authorities tried locating Townsend in the Lake Los Angeles area but were unable to find him.

“We do consider this individual to be dangerous, especially around kids, and we just want the public to be aware,” Dorsey said. “Not only did he have child porn, he also had videos and still photographs of underage children, which is very concerning. He also uses the mobile app Kik.”

Townsend was paroled in June of 2015 after serving time for possession of child pornography involving a person under 18, according to Dorsey. He has a prior conviction for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 by force or fear, according to the Megan’s Law website.

Townsend is believed to be in the Antelope Valley, but he may be trying to leave the state, Dorsey said.

Anyone with information on the location of Joseph Townsend is encouraged to contact the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station at 661-948-8466, the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station at 661-272-2400 or the Antelope Valley Parole Office at 661-729-0530 ext. 225.

–

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

57 comments for "Sex offender on the loose after cutting ankle monitor [update: captured]"

  1. If most commentators here (and really, everyone except sickos) agree that child molesters should be put to death or locked up forever with no chance of release, why why why don’t the legislators change the laws? Why do we release rapists into our neighborhoods while we continue to incarcerate minor drug offenders, etc? I would rather be surrounded by 2nd degree murderers in the homes in my neighborhood than a rapist. I’d take a 1st degree murderer over these disgusting scum rapists and child molesters.
    What the heck are our legislators doing if not fixing this???? Writing crazy environmental legislation? How about instead of leading the world in protecting the environment, we lead the world in justice?

  2. Apparently the Pillow Case rapist is keeping his nose out of trouble. See how easy it is to forget about some of our worst criminals when they are out of sight, they become out of mind.

    • I was tinking the same thing. He’s going to start his rampage again soon. He probably thinks people forgot about him.

  3. Speaking as a “liberal”; I believe I have a duty to help the least among us, at times when help is needed. I believe done correctly it strengthens our communities as a whole. Having said that, I am a mother of 6 children and a grandmother of 5 children. Nothing about being what I consider to be socially aware, ie: liberal, is in anyway shape or form synonymous with being delusional. It is not possible to have a healthy community when our children’s right to dignity is stripped away from them by any abusive means. Particularly one that is so insidious to society’s well being and so detrimental to the children and their families that fall prey to the madness of those who perpetrate these crimes, encourage these crimes, support the systemic failure of our goverment to prevent further abuse by the criminals involved and most heinous in my opinion, those who are in it for financial gain. Not only is it not a victimless crime, it is a crime that victimizes every person’s life it touches, literally and figuatively. Two of my adult children are actually my neighbors, one directly next door and one across the street, on a cul-de-sac. Therefore, 4 of my grandchildren live on the same block but only two are old enough to play outside with minimal supervision. It infuriates me that their mother has them locked behind closed doors at this moment until an adult is available to sit outside to watch them, because that individual is free. It’s beautiful day out, so I’m going out to watch my grandchildren so they can ride their bikes and ponder how we have gotten to the point in society where innocent ones are locked up and the guilty roam free.

    • The answer is paranoia. In your day and mine there were just as many sex offenders, and it was just as unlikely that when we went out to ride our bikes we would actually run into one. But our parents were not barraged 24/7/365 with agenda driven people yammering about “the decay of society” that only they knew what to do about and their hated opponents were allowing if not causing…so they let us go out and ride bikes.

      • Wrong again Timmy! When I was a kid (many moons ago) if I went out riding my bike and a pervert tried something, my dad and the other men in the neighborhood would have taken care of business.

        Now there are no dads around (because of your liberal welfare laws) and perverts have more rights than their victims (thanks to people like you).

        Now even if they get locked up libtards like you are whining for their release and they’re soon back in our neighborhoods victimizing more people.

        • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau report Child Maltreatment 2010 found that 9.2% of victimized children were sexually assaulted (page 24).

          Studies by David Finkelhor, Director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center, show that:

          1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse;
          Self-report studies show that 20% of adult females and 5-10% of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident;
          During a one-year period in the U.S., 16% of youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized;
          Over the course of their lifetime, 28% of U.S. youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized;
          Children are most vulnerable to CSA between the ages of 7 and 13.

      • don’t matter why these creeps do what they do- don’t mATTER what its about- power, control, or admiration of innocence that is beyond obsessed, don’t matter- its just something this world can live without- don’t care if it was tech nically allowed in bible times for purity of blood lines, I say kill them. brutality, painfully, grotesquely- I mean go Jason and micheal Meyers on them. hang them from trees by their sacks – be disgusting about it- I don’t care- but I say kill them. don’t care how or why- none of that matters- what matters is this guy obviously had no plans on staying away from kids- I know this area- he can be walking across desert andno one from street is gonna see him. only one way to deal with these terds- kill them. prodeath. matter fact I don’t vote but I will vote for any candidate who puts death for these loosers on the agenda.

      • Tim once again you are wrong when I was a kid I could walk to school for 45 mts each way with no fear times have changed now days I would get jumped robbed by gangs or killed or some molester showing his P parts its crazy out there you should get out some time and stop defending all the molesters and criminals out there leave you past behind time to change or where or are you any of them ??????????????????? Go on a ride along for a few days with the sheriff dep in Lancaster and you might change your way of thinking

        • The one who needs to get out more is you. Despite the reports that have you cowering in your house there isn’t a rapist hiding behind every bush. There isn’t a street gang on every street corner. As always, a tiny fraction of the population are criminals.

          You just miss the tiny town days when your sister didn’t have anyone else to date.

          • Tim I love how you just come up with senseless answers just to let you know I know first hand how it is out there and how it was all the young youth have no respect for there elders or anybody. I walked the streets I did my share put in work Still never disrespected anyone for no reason and never did it cross mi mind to rape or take advantage of a woman under no circumstances you must be a sick man to defend a rapist killer no disrespect but its my point of view.

          • Soooo…you not only need to get out more, but reading comprehension exercises would help to. Saying that there isn’t a rapist behind every bush isn’t “defending rapists, it is just mocking your OMG-cower-in-your-houses mentality, which is totally not warranted much of anywhere, and certainly not here.

      • I do not agree. As a matter of fact it seems he is desperately seeking his past…. and sadly just like the repeat rapist recently in Quartz Hill whom killed and raped in the 80s….. did it again we will probably read of an abduction rape and murder from this sick individual. Time for micro chips better yet don’t let them out. Send them to he’ll where they belong.

    • why the guilty sick creeps roam free is simple- human rights activists fight for their rights to keep breathing because there was a time these sick piles of dung were killed or had their dangalings literally cut off….. if they are sick with a disease then lets put them out of misery and save tax dollars and childhoods unaffected by their sickness…. re-instate the death penalty for these cases. kill them!!!! answer is simple. and do the same with child porn manufacturers. frick their rights to media- no on e should be calling it entertainment or fantasy when truth is that in reality its illegal- so film illegal activities or fantasize them- you should be killed too. period. matter fact I would gladly kill you if you are one of these sick pricks. because I was one of those unfortunate souls affected by a man who was sick- and raised that way- so kill them all I say. if they have family or kids- save those kids before they are taught to do the same. kill these sick terds. prison, jail, – there is no such thing as “correctional” for these loosers. there is no rehabilitation for them. kill them all. and solve the problem – save tax dollars that are wasted- a few dollars or less for a bullet, or less then a gallon of gas- a match- let them burn. seriously- I am like the kkk against these creeps. ruthless. let be their executioner. I will do it free of charge. and you know what- hes probably dead already. someone probably found him and killed him. hes probably been burned to ash in a bon fire in lake losangeles by now. seriously. if they cant find him- hes messed with wrong kid already and got what was coming to him. most likely what happened. and witnesses were there I am sure and no one is saying a dam thing. he deserves to die. period. my personal spiritual beliefs. kill these creeps. if you are one- steer clear of me because I will kill you and no one will find your dam body.

  4. Take it from someone who’s seen it all. The question is not., if he will re-offend. It is WHEN he will re-offend. As for the political side, EVERY politician makes dirty deals and kicks back to others, so the argument about conservative or liberal is moot! What is clear is the Dumb Democrat in charge, Gov Brown took the top 5 Felony Crimes in California, and made them misdemeanor ‘s. That means, no prison, just county jail. That also wiped out ALL priorable offenses. Steal a car, Felony with prison. Steal a second car, Felony with double prison, and so on. Now, steal a car, misdemeanor. Maximum q year county jail. Steal a fifth car, still just a misdemeanor with a maximum of 1 year. Brown doesnt have to pay for State Prisoners anymore and they get released so much sooner from county. So why would i stop committing these crimes if all i serve is 10 days for each one?

    • Brown made no changes to sex offender sentencing, comparing that to theft is offensive in itself. Sex offenders now face much harsher penalties then in the past, as when this offender was tagged and dropped in a remote trailer park. When they catch him again, things won’t go so soft this time.

  5. let’s not waste money…this crud did this twice??…ONCE IS A DEATH PENALTY….find this dirt and KILL IT… I am with WINTER STEEL

    • I agree….. we should kill them after first offense. why waste time, tax dollars, and risk their release? or if in orange county jail in California- an escape- seriously- just bring back death penalty. and we wont have such sick inhumane creeps still walking earth and one less thing for parents to worry about because honestly- its not just girls anymore affected by such creeps- these creeps often swing both ways- a kid- is a kid- so kill these brain damaged terds and save societies innocence. its not hard to do- they are often in bad shape anyway. why do you think they go after kids- they aint got what they need to go after anything their own size or stronger…..

  7. He has served time twice for child porn etc., He has a prior conviction for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 by force or fear….and then they let him out? He already is looking at more child porn…It sure does not sound like he has been rehabilitated…Why do they let these slimeballs out to freely live where they can just keep on doing the same stuff? An ankle monitor obviously is not going to stop them from looking at porn! This scum needs to be put away somewhere he cannot have any contact with children for life! Hope they find him before he does something to somebodies child…

      • no don’t trash “Dogs” putting him in same classification- hes just sick- put him to death. stop him from breathing and spreading his sickness and destroying and breaking such precious things like children and spirits. dogs are amazing animals but even animals- while all go into heat- none go trying to mate with new born of their species…. so these creeps are truly low- lower then wildest of animals- this is not a wild animal instinct- its an instinct of nature that is all messed up within this looser- and others like him- kill them. they don’t deserve to live and breath. do you know many of their victims often struggle with suicide and mental emotional hell- for what these loosers do- they destroy all that’s beautiful of children and their innocence. its disgusting. kill them. I don’t need gun or blade to do it. just a quart of lighter fluid and a match. lol let the child screwers burn I say.

  8. Instead of blindly hating pedophiles I try and look at things logically. Assuming this guy does not pay for child porn and just downloads whats freely available on the internet, then I see it as a totally victimless crime. The amount of child porn that exists will not go up or down due to this one person possessing it, and its not like he’s making child porn or contributing to it being made. I guess what I should ask is, would you rather let this guy look at child porn on his phone to satisfy his desires or would you rather let it build up until he rapes, molests and/or kills a real child?

    • How long does looking at pictures do it for him? That’s great until looking just doesn’t do it for him any more and he acts upon his desires. He has a sickness that is a ticking time bomb. May not happen today, may not happen in 2 years, but sooner or later it’s going to happen.

    • What the hell is wrong with you? A victimless crime it is not. And his possession of it is just a little more demand for it. Someone is making it. If there is a demand for it they will continue to do so. This man need not be in society. I see him, I kill him, it’s that simple.

    • You are delusional, of course he contributes to it being made. Do you think it gets made if there is nobody interested in it. Do you feel like those Children are not victims? Assuming they make it in to a normal functioning adulthood those images and crimes against them will always be out there. They do not go away. The innocence they lost does not return. You need to think about reality and get out of your ignorance bubble. These children are being raped molested and killed. They are being trafficked and abused. That’s because there is a market for it.

    • jimmy G ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A “victimless” crime? So do you think those babies he’s watching WANTED to do those things? You are as sick as he is. And at some point he’s going to act on his desires as HE ALREADY HAS. YOU ARE SICK

    • Your way of thinking is disturbing.you catch the problem before it gets that far.I’m my opinion fort offence should get you a free ride on the impatience not by choice deal.Just think there is no second time not several more victims.Hello! That would eliminate yourself situation…

    • you defend this piece of [removed] whith twisted logic. he should be locked up put on main line and wear a pink jump suit. you might want to justify why YOU defend him. sure raises my suspicions

    • Yes, children are his addiction and he won’t stop until he gets his fix!! He obviously didn’t learn the first time and he’s desperate and dangerous and needs to be stopped and put away for ever!!!!

      • I understand the initial reaction to think his needs will be satiated by his phone’s supply of porn, I also believe it’s a different kind of situation with pictures of people 16-17.5….disgusting? Yes. Reprehensible? Yes. But less cringe-worthy than 14yrs and under. Either way, if your crime is frowned upon by murderers and thieves in jail, that will happily take the moral high ground and kill you for perpetrating….you f**ked up and I wouldn’t shed a tear after hearing about the latest pedophile getting cleaned up by a mop from the bottom of a Twin Towers shower. What is actually the most disturbing to me is this: the probation agent travels alone to this guy’s residence…finds his iKiddiePorn app…then says “well okay I’m coming back with a few sheriffs and we’re taking you back to prison…don’t go anywhere and LEAVES THIS GUY ALONE knowing full well he’s going back to the place where any member of Gen Pop would happily gut him like a fish with a shank made out of compressed plastic forks or metal shavings from the bunk beds? Then acts surprised when the ankle bracelet is cut off and this guy goes on the lam? I mean that’s a special kind of stupidity. If this guy winds up hurting any children or anyone while on the loose, I hope that the idiots at the probation department are found liable for any damages to people or property this guy perpetuates while desperately running around trying to keep his penchant for underage children and his panic-laced escape in balance. I won’t feel bad when we read about this guy catching a homeowner’s bullet, baseball bat, fist, golf club etc… to the cranium. I only hope he doesn’t break into a home where the owner is too feminized to grasp the concept of violence, and innocent children suffer.

        • (This is a reply to all of you who commented to my topic) As usual, blind hatred and no logic. I am not a fan of child porn but I understand that the vast majority of people who use child porn don’t get caught. Its only a few small fish that ever do and NOTHING you can do or say is going to stop it from happening around the world. In many 3rd world countries families have to make porn videos of their kids just to be able to buy rice to feed themselves. Its estimated that 1% of all men are pedophiles who enjoy child porn and the vast majority of those do so without ever harming a child. Now those of you who disagree with me, if you can come up with some way of removing child porn from our society, taking it away from the millions of people who use it to fulfill their fantasys all while protecting our children from them now that they will have no other way to fulfill their desires, then I am all ears. Enlighten me. If not, watch the Showtime Series Dark Net (season 1, episode 3) – There is one pedophile who told the camera “I am gonna watch child porn until I either go to jail, or I am dead” – and he never harmed any actual kids.

          • You’re an idiot. Child porn hurts kids. If that guy says he’ll watch til he’s dead – that’s your answer right there.

          • jimmy G I think you should get together with this guy and satisfy your self’s and learn to leave kids alone you are one sick man you need help whoever I think who ever watches kids do those things has a lose screw you need to be put down also you are a sick man. AND who ever is addicted to watching any kind of porn has a mental issue also .

          • If and only if the entire cast were CGI would there be no child hurt in the creation of the media. There is a subclass of that out there but it is nowhere near as mainstream as the real victims.
            It would be an interesting study to see if CGI creations could help alleviate the issue.
            (Not laughing loudly on this issue at all, it is a very serious illness that does need to be addressed to protect children)

    • Have you lost youre rabid a$$ mind? You sir are ignorant.You honestly cannot believe that this guys intentions will stop there. C’mon now its already stated the guy has put forth his fantasies into real life actions. Personally? I am usually pretty laid back and I agree no harm no foul. If there’s anything that I adhere to being an exfelon myself, its the idea of “dont bother me and i won’t bother you” but this particular situation has the potentially dangerous element for the innocents of this world. Not cool. And for you to make the statements you have make me question your own intentions. I’m not saying that you’re not entitled to an opinion. However I wish to make this clear to you save your opinion for the other idiots at whatever seedy place other slimy dirtballs frequent.

    • If there was no demand for child porn, there would be no child porn. So by downloading the slime he is creating the need. Which makes him, like every other perv who downloads it, responsible for the stuff!

    • Child porn is not a victimless crime. Looking at a child being raped and brutalized is contributing to the action. If you think some piece of crap will be satisfied with just looking , you are wrong. Your choices of letting him look at porn and having him rape and kill are not the only two choices.

    • I say if they are sick enough to do it once- just slaughter them- and child porn is useless and a failing entity if you rid world of these sick creeps who patronize it. child porn is illegal. period. so kill the makers ofit- but outlaw anything and all you do is provide a reason to create an underground world of it on blackmarkets.

    • It’s not “the authorities” who let him out. It is a court order, made by a judge….most likely a liberal judge.

    • I don’t know any liberals who say that, but I do hear conservatives make up most of their statistical “facts”.

        • Not to get into a pissing contest here but it is very true that liberals are softer on crime then conservatives.

          • If by “softer on crime” you mean “less likely to overstate crime rates in order to steer more money through their hands into law enforcement unions and the occasional highly profitable boondoggle” then, yeah, maybe.

            Liberals tend to look for effective means of rehabilitation, conservatives take a more “pound of flesh” approach. As long as they can toss red meat to their panting followers whether it actually works or not doesn’t really matter.

            Is that what you were referring to?

          • Yes Tim, let’s have the liberals cut back on money from the “boondoggle” of law enforcement and putting away bad guys….and instead dump billions and billions into the high speed rail.

            Perhaps then the parolees in other parts of the state can run here to Palmdale much faster by rail.

          • Shane, for an example of what I meant, look to Lancaster. There’s your “conservative” mayor yapping about how we “have to support law enforcement” as an excuse to pump ten million dollars into the pockets of a crony. And when people say “WTF, that money could have been spent on creating jobs, improving infrastructure, etc” his response is “ya libruls are jist soft on crime.” And as long as he uses the “dirty word” liberal and the meaningless catch phrase “soft on crime” enough ignorant constituents will back him up without even bothering to see what is being done with their money.

      • Liberals on this site say that the sex offenders released rarely reoffend and everyone is just being mean and nasty to vilify these poor folks.