SEX CRIMES IN MOTEL DRAW CITY IRE

Men accused of having sex with teen in El Cajon used vouchers for inn

El Cajon leaders are moving to punish motels that are sites of serious crimes, after two men in a county-funded program were arrested and accused of having sex with a teenage girl in a local motel room.

Council members are also discussing a moratorium on new homeless vouchers, although it’s unclear if that could survive a legal challenge.

The proposals come after months of mounting frustration from local officials over the number of homeless people staying in East County’s largest city.

“How many more families are gonna be torn apart by the actions of some disgusting person?” Councilmember Michelle Metschel said Tuesday at a meeting called to discuss the situation. “I am completely done.”

Local leaders previously tried to fine motels renting high numbers of rooms to the homeless, but backed down after California’s attorney general threatened to sue, saying such a move amounted to income discrimination.

Much of Tuesday’s discussion centered on those county vouchers, administered by Equus, although the most recent arrests involved a different county-funded program.

On Friday, police were called by an employee of the Los Angelesbased nonprofit People Assisting The Homeless, or PATH.

The PATH staffer said a client, Lawrence Cantrell, had recently admitted to “sexual contact with a minor,” according to a statement from the El Cajon Police Department.

Officers later arrested Cantrell, 34, on drug-related charges, as well as a friend, Michael Inman, 70, for a parole violation and allegedly having child pornography. Both are registered sex offenders and law enforcement said each acknowledged having sex with someone they believed to be underage. Officers said they’d identified and located one 16