Matthew Paul Houser, 49, was arrested Monday on charges of lewd act upon a child, exhibition of lewd material to a minor, contacting a minor with the intent to commit lewd act and possession of child pornography, according to a report from Willows Police Chief William Spears.

Spears reported that the Clearlake Police Department detained Houser – who previously had lived in Willows – based on an arrest warrant, and notified Willows Police Officer Kelly Trent shortly before 7 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, that they had him in custody.

Houser is alleged to have committed the acts this past May 13, Spears said. A Willows Police investigation led to the issuance of the arrest warrant.

Spears said Trent traveled to Clearlake with a search warrant issued by the Glenn County Superior Court. Trent, assisted by Clearlake Police officers, served the warrant at Houser’s Clearlake apartment and on his vehicle.

During the service of the warrant at the apartment police learned that Houser had a storage building in Clearlake. Another search warrant was sought and upon issuance by the Glenn County Superior Court, that storage building was also searched, Spears said.

Several items believed to be evidence relating to the investigation were seized, but Spears said that due to the ongoing nature of the investigation specifics on the evidence aren’t yet being released.

Spears said Houser was transported to the Glenn County Jail and booked on the charges. Bail was set at $80,000.

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The 25-member Court Facilities Working Group, appointed last July by California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye to oversee the judicial branch’s facilities program, met Oct. 19-20.

The group discussed how to move forward on 41 courthouse projects around the state after more than $500 million in facility funding was moved to the state general fund, borrowed or redirected for court operations this fiscal year.

The Administrative Office of the Courts reported that since 2009 more than $1.1 billion in funding originally designated for courthouse construction has been borrowed, swept to the general fund or redirected to court operations.

The state judicial branch is proposing to build a new 50,000-square-foot, $55 million courthouse in Lakeport at 675 Lakeport Blvd.

A new courthouse for Lakeport has been included on a short list of critical projects because of the safety concerns and space limitations of the Lake County Superior Court's cramped quarters on the fourth floor of the Lake County Courthouse, located at 255 N. Forbes St.

The working group is recommending that the Judicial Council direct the Administrative Office of the Courts to continue work on all courthouse projects except two one-courtroom courthouses in Alpine and Sierra counties, that have a combined expense of nearly $50 million.

Most projects eligible to proceed to the final phase of architectural design before construction would do so, but the Administrative Office of the Courts said projects in Lake, Fresno and Riverside counties may be delayed a few months.

Other projects that are moving to site acquisition would complete that process, although two sites in Los Angeles County may see delays of as much as six months, the state reported. There also may be delays for projects preparing to move into architectural design.

Administrative Presiding Justice Brad R. Hill of the Fifth Appellate District Court of Appeal, the working group's chair, said a “significant budget gap” has to be closed in the courthouse construction program for this fiscal year.

“At the same time, the working group feels strongly that we must maintain our commitment to facilities infrastructure, as improvements are urgently needed statewide,” said Hill. “We believe these recommendations achieve that balance.”

The working group received hundreds of pages of feedback after soliciting written comments from the public and the 34 courts that have projects to be funded by Senate Bill 1407, which establishes a funding stream for such projects based on court fines and penalties, according to the Administrative Office of the Courts.

A letter submitted to the group by Lake County Superior Court Presiding Judge David Herrick and Court Executive Officer Mary Smith pointed to the inadequacies of the Lakeport court facilities, which squeeze four courtrooms, 39 staff, four judicial officers and the public into 15,000 square feet of space.

The letter said there is a “desperate need” for the new Lakeport courthouse because of inadequate security, overcrowding, and the building's poor physical condition and maintenance issues.

“As a small underfunded court with an annual budget of approximately $4 million, we are unable to save enough money for the recommended reserves, much less save enough money to complete this project on our own,” Herrick and Smith wrote.

They also said they were “gravely concerned” about delaying the new building because of the great risk of SB 1407 funds being “borrowed.”

The Lakeport courthouse is ready to move forward to completion on time in late 2014, the letter stated.

At last week's working group meeting, Hill appointed a new subcommittee to review projects still in their preliminary phases in order to look for significant cost reductions – as long as the reductions do not compromise public safety or security.

The working group’s recommendations are expected to be considered by the Judicial Council at its Dec. 13, meeting.

The council can accept, modify or reject the recommendations, which will be posted on the California Courts Web site at www.courts.ca.gov/policyadmin-jc.htm.

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092211 Lake County Superior Court Letter to State

The sweep – conducted at 27 locations in the city of Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks and Lower Lake – stemmed from a recent rash of violent assaults occurring in Clearlake over the last month, where victims and witnesses have not been cooperative with police, according to a report from Sgt. Rodd Joseph.

Of the 12 suspects arrested, Joseph said three were known gang members. Three other subjects who were not arrested during the sweep were newly identified gang members.

He said the nine other subjects arrested were either associated to the known gang members or found at the associated locations.

The following is the list of the arrested persons – all Clearlake residents – and their respective charges:

• Aaron Welch, 25, parole violation;

• Dawn Wisterman, 42, under the influence of a controlled substance;

• Jeremy Lopez, 21, under the influence of a controlled substance;

• Matthew Krotky, 38, under the influence of a controlled substance;

• Frank Apodaca, 41, under the influence of a controlled substance;

• Anthony Stone, 25, possession of a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance;

• Sara Bongiorno, 22, felony arrest warrant;

• Dennis Stone, 49, misdemeanor arrest warrant;

• Tracie Frankum, 40, under the influence of a controlled substance;

• Neil Schweitzer, 29, under the influence of a controlled substance;

• Rudy King, 18, misdemeanor arrest warrant;

• Daniel Carr, 42, commercial burglary, after stolen property allegedly was found in his home.

Welch, Lopez, Anthony Stone, Bongiorno and Carr all were booked into the Lake County Jail on the above listed charges.

The other suspects – Wisterman, Krotky, Apodaca, Dennis Stone, Frankum, Schweitzer and King – were processed at the Clearlake Police Department and later released on citations pending a court appearance.

The Clearlake Police Department thanked the Lakeport Police department for its assistance in the gang enforcement sweep.

Joseph said the Clearlake Police Department is committed to identifying and tracking known gang members and identifying new gang members, and wants to make the message clear that illegal gang activity will not be tolerated. Gang member violators will be sought and arrested.

The Clearlake Police Department asks anyone with information about crimes occurring in the city of Clearlake to please contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251. Callers may remain anonymous.

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The Lakeport Police Department maintains an active professional police volunteer program. In an effort to further build the program, they are actively seeking new volunteers and plan to hold a volunteer training academy in the very near future.

Volunteer support assignments are available in both the administrative and operations divisions of the department.

Assignments in those divisions include investigations, parking enforcement, patrol, evidence, records, support services and animal control.

Lakeport Police's volunteer program complies with the best police practices for law enforcement volunteer programs and follows guidelines of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Volunteers in Police Service program.

All potential volunteers are required to complete an application, interview and full law enforcement background investigation process prior to being placed as a department volunteer.

Community members who want to be a part of their police department are encouraged to contact Lakeport Police's volunteer coordinators, officers Destry Henderson or Jarvis Leishman, at 707-263-5491, or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., for more information.

Interested persons also are encouraged to stop by the police station, located at 916 N. Forbes St., and talk to any of the department's staff or volunteers in order to learn more about the program.

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The association filed the lawsuit in against Sheriff Frank Rivero and the county of Lake, alleging that Rivero had stripped them of peace officer status that had been granted to them in legislation in 2008.

The situation led to the filing of the suit, which at one point had been scheduled to go to trial before retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge William McKinstry on Tuesday.

However, County Counsel Anita Grant said that the union and the sheriff's office had a telephone conference with McKinstry prior to the trial date.

With settlement talks already under way at that time, they agreed that – rather than moving forward with the trial on Tuesday – they would appear for a case management conference that afternoon and report on the outcome of their discussions, which ultimately yielded the agreement, Grant said.

The proposed agreement next goes to the Board of Supervisors for final approval, the sheriff's office reported.

One of the chief concerns had centered on firearms. Correctional officers had been allowed to carry firearms while traveling to and from work and in other public situations until earlier this year.

That's when Rivero – citing liability concerns – changed the correctional officers' status to custodial, preventing them from carrying firearms unless they were transporting prisoners, as Lake County News has reported.

The settlement agreement allows correctional officers to continue to be armed while on duty outside of the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility, according to a joint statement from the sheriff's office and the correctional officers' association.

“This settlement protects the public and the correctional officers who serve them as well,” the statement from Rivero and association President Mike Silva said.

At the same time, the agreement does not confer peace officer status on Lake County’s correctional officers, according to the statement.

“What this agreement clarifies is that correctional officers are not entitled to duty weapons 24/7,” Grant explained.

Correctional officers are not entitled to carry weapons at all times in the same way as deputies, whose peace officer status gives them that ability, said Grant.

If correctional officers want to be armed while off duty, Rivero agreed – and had previously offered – to issue them concealed weapons permits at no cost, according to the settlement's terms.

In their joint statement, Rivero and Silva said the settlement discussions relating to the lawsuit helped resolve other outstanding issues and opened a line of communication between the association and the sheriff’s office to address future problems.

Grant said the hope is that the union and sheriff's office will be able to communicate going forward.

The settlement agreement does not involve any additional costs to the county, with the parties to the lawsuit covering their own costs and attorney fees.

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Sgt. Rodd Joseph said that sometime during the evening or night time hours of Monday, Oct. 17, and the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 18, an unknown person or persons broke into several storage lockers at B&K Storage, located at 6925 Old Highway 53.

Joseph said it appears the suspect or suspects responsible for the crime were likely on the property for an extended period of time.

Some of the stolen property include electronics, power and air tools, hand tools, welding equipment, musical instruments, vehicle parts and off road motorcycles. Joseph said the list is not all inclusive.

Specifics details on how entry was made into these individual units is not being disclosed at this time for investigation purposes, Joseph said.

Anyone with information on the burglaries or may have seen suspicious vehicles or persons in the area of the storage facility is asked to contact Clearlake Police Officer Arron Winslow at 707-994-8251.

Witnesses or persons with information about this crime may remain anonymous.

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