Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has declined to file failure to register as a sex offender charges
California prowler caught on video 'sniffing' women in Barnes & Noble
Peeping and prowling suspect Calese Crowder, 36, already had a lengthy rap sheet, jail records show, when Barnes & Noble shopper Michaela Witter had this encounter with him caught on video.
A Los Angeles man who was released from jail again despite a history of sex crimes and other offenses will not face failure to register as a sex offender charges, according to the district attorney's office.
Calese Carron Crowder, 37, was arrested on Thursday for failing to register as a sex offender and was released on Friday.
Earlier this week, he pleaded no contest to peeping and prowling charges for staring into a home with children inside on August 6. Crowder was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail, hit with multiple no-contact orders and ordered to enter a rehab program for sex criminals. He was then freed by authorities on Tuesday.
Crowder is also the man identified in a viral TikTok video in which he was seen going around a Barnes & Noble store in Burbank, crouching down behind women and appearing to "sniff" them from behind.
CALIFORNIA BARNES & NOBLE ‘SNIFFER’ ARRESTED AGAIN, FAILED TO REGISTER AS SEX OFFENDER
Calese Carron Crowder, 37, was arrested on Thursday for failing to register as a sex offender and was released on Friday. (Glendale Police Department)
He has a lengthy rap sheet of sex acts and other offenses dating back to 2005 and, under the terms of one of his previous convictions, he was supposed to register as a sex offender at the local police station. On Wednesday, Fox News Digital discovered that his name did not appear on the state's registry.
Now, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has declined to file failure to register as a sex offender charges.
"Earlier this year, Calese Carron Crowder was convicted of an offense that required that he register as a sex offender pursuant to PC section 290," Gascon said in a statement Friday to Fox News Digital. "In order to violate this statute, an individual must be provided adequate notice and information on specific registration requirements."
"Glendale Police Department arrested Crowder yesterday on a misdemeanor charge of failing to register pursuant to Penal Code section 290," the statement continued. "After careful review of the evidence, the office was unable to file any charges due to insufficient evidence as to the notice requirement."
Gascon also said his office has been made aware of a viral video of Crowder at the Barnes & Noble in Burbank. This incident is being investigated by the Burbank Police Department.
"No case has been presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office related to that incident," he said. "There are no other cases against Crowder pending review with the office."
Crowder was released from detention again on Friday, according to jail records.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has declined to file failure to register as a sex offender charges. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
He was accused of peeping into a Glendale home with children on August 6 and a Barnes & Noble shopper posted her encounter with him on TikTok on August 8. Crowder was arrested last week and released on Tuesday despite pleading no contest to the peeping charges.
Glendale police booked him into jail again on Thursday for the 43rd time since 2005 in Los Angeles County alone.
Crowder previously served time in state prison on burglary and robbery charges and was sentenced in February to a year in jail for indecent exposure in Santa Clarita, according to court records. But he was released early from that sentence, law enforcement sources told Fox News Digital.
The victim in the bookstore incident, Michaela Witter, spoke to Fox News Digital before Crowder was released on Friday.
"I'm relieved that he was arrested again, but I, unfortunately, don't have high expectations with him being kept there for long," Witter said. "I've talked with others who were affected by Calese Crowder, who suffer from PTSD because of him, don't feel safe going out because of him, and I want to know why the justice system isn't taking this as seriously as it is."
"They are playing with our lives and if they release him again, I hope they know that they are responsible for anything worse that happens because they know he is unfit for society," she continued. "This has been happening for over 13 years, so they either need to get him serious help by keeping him in a facility that will do that or keeping him in jail where he can't harm anyone else."
In the video of Witter's encounter with Crowder posted to TikTok last week, she asked the man what he was doing after he crouched down behind her and leaned his face toward her.
"Tying my shoe," Crowder replied, huffing and short of breath. "What are you doing?"
During this visit to the store, Witter also recorded the same man pulling the same move on another woman. She reported him to the front desk and shared the video on social media. The clip received millions of views, including from other women who said they had similar experiences.
