A convicted sex offender accused of a misdemeanor was in Santa
Clara County Superior Court Thursday, but his case was continued
for a week until April 19.
Morgan Hill – A convicted sex offender accused of a misdemeanor was in Santa Clara County Superior Court Thursday, but his case was continued for a week until April 19.
Daniel Duran, 41, was arrested for actually approaching Nordstrom Elementary School which is against the law for convicted sex offenders. He was apprehended by Morgan Hill police Det. Kevin Beilmann and officer David Ray, along with San Jose police officers, at his home in San Jose on April 4.
He has been in custody in Santa Clara County Jail since his arrest.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Teresa Guerrero-Daley granted Supervising District Attorney Frank Carrubba’s request to increase Duran’s bail to $20,000 during his arraignment April 5, the day after his arrest. Carrubba said the request was made “based on his past behavior” and called the amount of the bail “unusually high” for a misdemeanor.
If convicted, Duran faces six months in jail and a $500 fine.
He was convicted of forcible rape in 1988 and assault with intent to commit rape in 1999.
Carrubba said the warrant for Duran’s arrest arises from emergency legislation passed last September that makes it illegal for a person required to register as a sex offender to be in any school building or on school grounds without “lawful business” and written permission from a school administrator.
Duran was spotted in Morgan Hill on March 21 on the Nordstrom Elementary School campus by a maintenance worker at approximately 8:15pm. The school district employee recognized Duran’s picture in the Morgan Hill Times with a story that ran March 30. He called the Times, and the Times passed the information on to Beilmann.
During the week he was seen on the Nordstrom campus, Duran was also spotted lurking around real estate offices, homes for sale and real estate open houses in Morgan Hill. Realtors and home owners reported his behavior as “strange,” saying he asked people to pray with him and that he said God had “guided him” to purchase a home.
He was also reported to have behaved similarly in Pleasanton during last month and in Gilroy in December.
Duran’s presence in Morgan Hill was unsettling to the community, and Beilmann received many calls from upset residents, particularly realtors. But until he went on to the school campus, officers could not arrest him. If he’s on public property doing nothing wrong, Beilmann said, there was nothing to arrest him for.
