Oct 10, 2007 4:07 pm US/Pacific
Burgess Jailed For Not Registering As Sex Offender
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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John Steven Burgess, 35, has been named a suspect but has not been charged in the disappearance of 19-year-old Donna Jou of Rancho Santa Margarita.
CBS
A man suspected in the disappearance of a Rancho Santa Margarita college student pleaded no contest Wednesday to failing to register as a sex offender and was sentenced to three years in prison.
John Steven Burgess, 35, has been named a "person of interest," but has not been charged in the disappearance of 19-year-old Donna Jou of Rancho Santa Margarita.
The San Diego State University honors student was last seen by her family on June 23 as she rode away on the back of Burgess' motorcycle. She was later seen at a party at Burgess' Westside home, authorities have said.
Defense attorney George Bird Jr. said recently that his client was willing to talk with investigators about Jou if he were offered immunity from prosecution on the registration charge.
On Wednesday, prosecutors said they never considered that offer because it was possible that after they granted him immunity he could have said he had no information.
His lawyers have said they could not advise him to talk about the woman's disappearance, Deputy District Attorney Christi Frey said.
"He has a right to remain silent on anything that might incriminate him," she said, later adding, "we'd all love to hear what he has to say."
As for immunity, she said, "we never discussed it." Outside the courthouse, Jou's friends and family members held up signs and chanted "please Burgess talk" and "justice for Donna."
"All our waking moments are focused only on finding our daughter and discovering what has happened to her," her father, Reza Jou, said. "The totality of our lives has only one goal -- to find Donna and bring her back home."
"We have begged Mr. Burgess to tell the authorities, to tell them what he knows about Donna, and he has refused," he said. "I am again imploring Mr. Burgess to tell us what he knows about Donna so that we can be reunited with our wonderful, precious daughter."
Donna's mother, Nili Jou, said the family is proceeding with plans for their daughter's 20th birthday party, set for Sunday.
After Jou disappeared, Burgess, named in a $1 million arrest warrant on the registration charge and sought for questioning in Jou's disappearance, went to Florida, where he reportedly has family.
On July 24, he was caught with cocaine and pleaded guilty to a possession charge. He was sentenced to time served and extradited to Los Angeles on the failure to register charge and then freed after posting the $250,000 bail.
He returned to Florida, where he was arrested Sept. 20 on suspicion of stealing DVDs and again returned to Los Angeles, where a judge doubled his bail to $500,000.
In 2002, Burgess was convicted of three counts of battery and, the next year, he was found guilty of committing a lewd act on a child. He was sentenced to 146 days in jail, placed on three years' probation and required to register as a sex offender.
On Wednesday he pleaded no contest to failure to register and failure to report a change of address, while another charge of failing to report a change of address was dropped. Although sentenced to three years, he could be out of prison within 18 months, prosecutors said.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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