San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond wants the state to stop placing sexually violent predators in the county. His demand follows the disappearance of a convicted sex offender who removed his GPS monitor and vanished five days ago.

Merle Wakefield, 69, removed his GPS monitoring device around 3:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 25, while working in Rancho Bernardo, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. Liberty Health Care, the private company California pays to monitor Wakefield under the state's Conditional Release Program, discovered the device had been removed and Wakefield was gone. The company notified the Sheriff's Office and San Diego Police Department.

As of Tuesday, Sept. 29, Wakefield had not been found. The Sheriff's Office said in a Sept. 29 post on X that it and its law enforcement partners were actively searching.

Desmond, whose District 5 includes Carlsbad, published a statement on his official website Sunday, Sept. 27, blaming the state for placing predators in communities where supervision has failed.

"After what happened Friday, the state cannot keep promising supervision it has just proven it can't deliver," Desmond said in the statement. "The Phillips placement must be stopped immediately."

That second name refers to John Phillips, a designated sexually violent predator convicted of lewd and lascivious acts on a child and of sexual battery. Phillips is pending placement in Borrego Springs, according to Desmond's statement.

Desmond said Borrego Springs already has two conditionally released sexually violent predators living there. Jacumba Hot Springs has four, he said. He argued the state repeatedly picks small, rural communities where the nearest deputy can be 30 to 45 minutes away.

Desmond proposed that conditionally released sexually violent predators be housed on state prison grounds instead of in neighborhoods, saying it would mean better monitoring, faster response times and lower costs.

Wakefield was convicted in 1980 and 1991 of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 and rape by force, according to the Sheriff's Office. He had been on conditional release since November 2024 and was released from Coalinga State Hospital by court order, CBS 8 reported.

He was temporarily housed in Jacumba Hot Springs before his disappearance and has a lifetime sex-offender registration requirement.

SDSO Watch Commander Lt. Joe Berry told City News Service on Sunday, Sept. 27, that the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force and the sheriff's Fugitive Task Force had been searching for Wakefield since his disappearance, CBS 8 reported.

No response from Liberty Health Care, the California Department of State Hospitals or the state regarding Desmond's criticism or the pending Phillips placement appeared in available public records as of publication.

Wakefield is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, about 230 pounds, with brown eyes. Anyone who sees him should not approach him and should call 911 or the San Diego County Sheriff's Office at (858) 868-3200.