An elementary school in California filed a police report after City Council candidate and registered sex offender Rene Campos held a Feb. 27 press conference mere feet away from the school.
Campos held the press conference at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno, which is across the street from Big Picture Educational Academy, a K-8 public charter school, according to The Fresno Bee. Campos, 41, served two years of formal probation after he was accused of possessing child sexual abuse material and pleaded no contest to the 2018 misdemeanor charge, the Fresno Bee reported.
At the press conference, Campos told reporters that his proximity to the school would only violate the law during school hours.
“I would say, during operational hours, absolutely,” Campos said. “I believe they are closed right now. I don’t see anyone.”
Campos told reporters to meet him at the press conference at 3:30 p.m., while he arrived at 3:45 p.m., The Fresno Bee reported. The school is open Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., according to its Facebook page.
The school’s Executive Director Stephanie Hilton and its Superintendent Diana Gonzalez issued a joint statement reacting to Campos’ press conference, saying the school was “fully operational” at the time of the event.
“Our school was fully operational, with students visibly entering and exiting the building. To hold a campaign event under these circumstances was deeply troubling.”
“The legal restrictions that may be placed on registered sex offenders–particularly those in proximity to schools–exist for one reason: to protect children. Those legal restrictions are not suggestions. They are not obstacles to be rationalized away with political messaging or reframed as symbols of forgiveness,” their joint statement read in part. (RELATED: Father Of Alleged Georgia School Shooter Found Guilty Of Second-Degree Murder)
Hilton and Gonzalez also reiterated that the school was not associated with the event, and Campos was neither invited nor welcomed.
Campos said he chose the church as the location for the press conference because it represents rehabilitation and forgiveness, according to the Fresno Bee. Allegedly, neither the Diocese of Fresno nor St. John’s Cathedral obtained prior notice about the press conference, and they accused Campos of using both the church and the nearby charter school as “props in his theater of politics,” according to a statement cited by the outlet.
Campos, who launched a bid to represent California’s District 7, previously told ABC30 his campaign is focused on safety.
“I know what it means to face consequences,” he previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“I also know what it takes to rebuild. When a 15-year-old believes his life is over because of a mistake, that is more than a headline — it’s a test of whether our system balances accountability with prevention and long-term safety,” Campos said.
“Protecting children means enforcing consequences, reducing repeat harm, and building policies that prevent more damage in the first place. Public safety must be about outcomes, not outrage,” he said.
Campos organized the press conference in response to other councilmembers’ plan to block him from serving on the council, according to The Fresno Bee.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated with additional information.