Bond dispute: Registered sex offender given 'low’ bond after violating terms of release, prosecutors claim

HOUSTON – Prosecutors and victim’s safety advocates contend a criminal bond amount for a registered sex offender who prosecutors say failed to comply with his release terms.

David Ocampo, 22, was arrested Wednesday and brought before a magistrate Thursday morning for failure to comply as a sex offender.

Ocampo served three years in prison after he was convicted of the attempted sexual assault of a child in 2017. He was supposed to have registered his address after being released from prison last October. But investigators said he lied about it in filling out a form for Pasadena Police Department, who filed the original case, as well as to the Houston Police Department and the Department of Public Safety.

In magistrate’s court Thursday, the prosecutor asked the judge to asses the maximum bond, asking his bond to be set at $5,000.

Ocampo’s public defense counsel countered, asking for either an unpaid personal recognizance bond or a $2,000 paid bond, which required Ocampo to put up $200 to leave custody.

Judge Lionel Castro asked if Ocampo could make the lower bond. When Ocampo said yes, Castro set it at $2,000. Victims Right’s Advocate Andy Kahan said given Ocampo’s record, he should have been given the higher bond.

“That sends out major signals,” Kahan said. “If he is not willing to comply with the capricious issue of just telling anybody where you’re going to live, what makes you think he’s going to live with conditions of the law.”

KPRC 2 attempted to reach Judge Castro for a response but was unsuccessful Thursday.

Ocampo is charged with a 3d degree felony which carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison upon conviction for failure to comply. Ocampo posted bond Thursday morning but had not been released, as of 6 p.m. Thursday, according to jail records.