Convicted Sex Offender Facing New Charges Released from Jail
May 31, 2021, 11:28 PM
OGDEN, Utah — An Ogden neighborhood was outraged after a convicted sex offender, facing new voyeurism charges, was let out of jail just hours after his arrest.
Police said Reynaldo Paredes Jr. was arrested for voyeurism Friday night after the next-door neighbor found Paredes on his roof, peering into his teenage daughter’s room.
The man called police, who questioned him, arrested him, only to have him released a few hours later.
In the probable cause statement, the arresting officer urged the judge reviewing the case to keep Paredes behind bars, saying: “I pray that a no bail exception be granted for the safety of the child living next door to Reynaldo.”
Paredes Jr. is no stranger to law enforcement. In 2016, he was convicted of attempted forcible sex abuse, a third-degree felony.
As a registered sex offender, his picture appears on the Utah state registry.
A few months ago, the 40-year-old moved back in with his dad and his dad’s girlfriend.
Neighbors said he has come and gone over the years, always bringing trouble with him – from housing roosters they said to hold “cock fights,” to dangerous dogs and family fights that unfold in the front yard.
Due to a bail-reform law that went into effect last October, judges are urged to let inmates leave jail on what’s called “pretrial services.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox repealed the law just months after it went into effect, but no new law is on the books yet.
In the case of Paredes, a judge ordered he check in with authorities, but he will remain out of jail until at least a pre-trial hearing.
Paredes faces voyeurism, intoxication and trespassing charges.
A Facebook group expressed outraged, saying Paredes is dangerous and an imminent threat to the family. A neighbor also said Paredes better keep his distance.
“I wouldn’t take kindly to someone coming into my home. It would probably be pretty disastrous for him,” said the neighbor.
Paredes should appear before a judge for his pretrial hearing in the next few days.
