Molestation suspect sought

Jen Lawson

Friday, April 25, 2003 | 10:04 a.m.

A man wanted on charges of molesting children in Las Vegas was released from custody in California as a result of an apparent miscommunication, authorities said.

Law enforcement officials are now searching for Rick Demet, 38, who is wanted by Metro Police on 10 counts of child molestation.

"Anytime you have a sex offender who is out there, it's dangerous," Lt. Jeff Carlson of Metro's sexual assault unit said.

Carlson said California authorities sent a teletype message saying Metro had until April 18 to pick up Demet. He had finished serving a six-month prison sentence in California at the end of March, then was brought to a county jail to wait for Las Vegas authorities to retrieve him.

Demet signed paperwork April 8 waiving an extradition hearing, Carlson said.

"Once the waiver is signed, we have 10 days to pick him up," he said. "We had until the 18th, and we confirmed the day we would bring him back."

But at a hearing April 11, a Riverside County Superior Court judge said Metro had failed to pick up Demet within a required time frame and ordered him to be released, according to court records.

"They said apparently Las Vegas doesn't want him, and they released him," Carlson said.

Demet was paroled from a California prison in January 2002 after serving time for embezzlement and theft. He then went to Las Vegas, which was a violation of his parole.

Police allege that while in Las Vegas, Demet molested a boy between March and August 2002. He was arrested in Las Vegas in October 2002 on the parole warrant from California and sent back to that state.

In November 2002, while Demet was serving a six-month prison sentence in California for the parole violation, Metro completed its investigation against him and filed child molestation charges.

California authorities transferred him to a local jail March 27 to wait for Metro to get him, FBI Agent Don Roberts said.

"If you ask four entities why this happened, you'll get four different answers," Roberts said.

He should be considered dangerous, Roberts said.