Radley Balko bids farewell to Kern County California D.A. Ed Jagels:
You’d be hard pressed to find a law enforcement official anywhere in the country who better embodies the worst excesses of America’s sharp turn toward law-and-order crime policy over last 30 years. From expanding the death penalty to eroding the rights of the accused to jacking up prison populations to formulating crime policy around sports metaphors, Jagels created a high-profile position by backing just about every bad crime policy in a generation.
But if history dispenses justice more honorably than Ed Jagels ever did, the boyish-looking D.A. will be most remembered for his role ruining countless lives in perhaps the most shameful of the Reagan-era “tough on crime” debacles: the coast-to-coast sex abuse panic of the 1980s.
It’s because of prosecutors like Jagels—and while few are as successful as Jagels, many are trying—that I don’t automatically assume the prosecutors are the good guys. From Radley’s account, Jagels was a cancer on the California justice system. Yet unlike cancer, he was encouraged to thrive and grow by other people in the system.
Nobody ever held him responsible. Kern county residents paid out millions in settlements for his errors, but Jagels himself escaped scott free. He’s advising one of next year’s candidates for governor.
Proving once again that just because you have money and some education, you are still a major idiot. I think Ed Jagels should be absolutely ashamed of himself!
“…to the accusers,they should be suspect”. -() My quote ()- Or Perhaps Shakespeare;”Methinks,you lousy piece of garbage, thou doth protest too much” What are you hiding in that slimy life of yours? This scumbag does have a son. I’d certainly check on that situation. Hey PETA , don’t forget about the CHEETAH this jerk shot, being big on crime and all. See how “power positions” attract such awful, zero empathetic pukes everywhere. We have to stop being such (&#!!*%) nice guys. Start “thinking for our selves” again, in all Important situations.
2 innocent people died while they were in jail because of him. He disgusts me.
I just learned all about Ed Jagels. I hope some way Ed Jagels pays for his crimes against humanity. Surely there is a Hell that he will be sentenced to suffer in agony till the end of time. The fact this poor excuse for a human being does not think he has done anything wrong to me proves he has got to be a psychopath. A very dangerous person who needs to be locked up for life. This type of personality disorder is to this day an incurable ilness.
Hope he gets fucked in his ass til he dies, worthless old piece of shit
Ed Jagel is responsible for ruining people’s lives, little kids lives (who grew up in foster systems, having everyone tell them their parents were evil), and stealing money from the government for not doing work. Someone who manipulates the system in such a way needs to be accountable for such evil. There is no excuse for doing something wrong so many times.
3-strikes your out? Well, you had 25 strikes, now go to jail and take responsibility.
Ed Jagels is being honerd as hometown hero of the year Staurday September 22nd at the Petrolium Club.
Did you VOTE for him?
Yeah, everybody thinks he’s a hero. Who cares about a few innocent people when he’s Tough On Crime, right?
I hope Ed jagels died a slow painful death. He is a child molesting homosexual. So was his buddy Stephen tauzer, they deserve the same fate
Fuck you Ed jagels rot in hell you bitch
I knew Ed “Loverboy” when he was a young Gay Deputy DA in Ridgecrest California. He was the boyfriend of my Uncle James E. Poole whom had kidnapped a young boy that he and Eddy Boy as he was know in the underground circles of young boys.
They would recruit and groom the boys from the County Juvenile Probation Camp Owen in Kernville, CA over the hill from both Ridgecrest and Bakersfield. As a U/C Officer posing as a corrupt cop to infiltrate the corruption of the DA and Police Dept. Ed Jagels later became the elected DA and always made sure one of his lovers my uncle Jim Poole would be on the County Grand Jury to give Eddy Boy any valuable information on them targeting Ed or his lovers. We knew several of his staff were lovers of young boys one Stephen Tauzer later murdered by a sheriff’s Deputy over his molesting the son of the deputy. Eddy boy also had a love triangle with his Investigator “Wally Boy Newport” aka Walter Newport so this is not new to us who knew Ed Jagels and his many front phony x-wives were all cover wives yet he continued to molest children and continue his pedophile life style
Scott, is this the same James Poole that lived at the Homestead (off the old hwy route where there was a gas station & restaurant)? An Al Anderson & I think a John ( name???) lived there?
Yes, that was my Uncle he was later involved in grooming boys in Kernville Boys camp Camp Erwin Owens. Yes, I remember old man Al and John a long time friend of my Uncle Jim’s who later was a Fire Chief at China Lake NWC.
Jim moved to Kernville and later was Ed Jagels man on the Grand Jury for many years, Uncle James molested many of our family members as well. He once was caught on the Canadian Border many years ago with two under age boys used for his molesting group. It was my Grand Parents who bought the Homestead back in the mid 60’s to get Jim out of the LA Scene.
Uncle Jim was also a lover of not just Jagels, Tauzer, a few of the Judges and several young kids disappeared in the Homestead ranch area and were never found, most were run a way’s that Jim and Ed would pick up and then they vanished. Read the Book by Edward Humes ” Mean Justice” about the Kern County DA’s corruption
Scott, Barbara and I were neighbors to Jim’s parents & Jim. Our mom was friends with them. Unfortunately, we know Al was a pedophile. There was a dark room at the Homestead when we visited in 1967.
I have a pic with Al, me, my sister, and grandmother in front of one of the guest buildings. We went to visit the place after Al violently raped me (our mom was friends with Al). He would hold his whittling knife at my throat. After, he would take me out to our grandmother’s garage and threaten me with his riffle. He took pics of me. My childhood was extremely traumatic. My only safe place was school.
I went out to confront Al in 1991 at his apartment near the Senior Center. I asked him what his popscicle stick diagram picture represented. He said it was all the children that were hurt. He use to give us popsicles, ask for the sticks back and carve them.
Just to clarify, Al violently raped me in Glendale. My mother told him he needed to move so he moved up to the Homestead and tended the gas station. We then visited the property in 1967. There were a group of land investors that Jim and John started called Sierra Neveda Land Investment Group (or close to that) and they were the ones that bought that 90 acre piece of land.
Scott, I had no idea there were issues with Jim. He babysit us and no problems. I was maybe 5 and Jim about 18 or 20 when he baby sat us. So Jim must be about 75ish now, right?.
https://www.ancestry.com/boards/localities.northam.usa.states.california.counties.kern/4757/mb.ashx?pnt=1
Kathy, if mom knew he raped you and asked him to leave and he moved to the homestead, why would we all go to visit them? I believe you about Al but that doesn’t make sense to visit someone who raped your daughter. Mom didn’t believe me when I told her me and the neighborhood kids opened the door to his bedroom and he had you down to your underwear standing next to the bed. He hurried over and said you’d be right out and shut the door on us. You also said that when you confronted mom she said “he was my friend”. I never understood how she could defend him.
I also don’t know what mom ever said to me about you when you said “you always hated me because of what mom said”.
Barbara, you told me mom use to tell you as a child to ‘Be more like K’.
You told me you always hated me and always will because she said that to you. I am sure that was very hurtful to you. We had a horrible childhood.
This man is perhaps the most corrupt and inept District Attorney this country has ever seen. He surpasses the evil of DA’s in a lot of southern states during the early and middle 20th century. I cannot believe a community of citizens who were made fully aware of his being responsible for placing several innocent men and women (married couples), in prison for years and some decades for child molestation charges, as well as ruining the lives of several innocent children. Ed Jagels is the one who should behind bars serving time. What a disgrace to humanity, he sickens me and he should have sickened the community that kept electing him to office.
Scott, was Jim or Al Anderson ever caught/arrested? I looked up sex offenders in that area and Jim was not on the list (which doesn’t always mean anything). I’ll go back and look up Al.
Barbara, I called the police in Ridgecrest in 1991 to report what Al did to me as a child. They would not take the report at that time. The laws changed later. Al has since passed away.
Barbara, Megans Law was enacted in 1994. I didn’t go to the police after the law passed because it was too traumatic for me and Al was old. I thought he had died by then but I was wrong. I became violently ill after Steve and I went out in 1991. We had to get a hotel room. I have no doubt other’s were just as traumatized. Plus, Mom never filed a police report. Not sure if you are aware, but Pedophiles seek out those who are vulnerable. He first raped me mpnths before dad died when I was 4 1/2.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan%27s_Law
Al, was never arrested as he and Jim, Ed , John, many other ran a child porn group at Homestead at least 4 run-a-way boys disappeared from Homestead in the early 70’s never to be found nor ever cases solved. Jim Disappeared some time ago after he was caught smuggling two yound boys from Lake Isabella, CA into Canada, no charges were filed as my Grandmother paid a sum to get them not to say there were assaulted.
Once both of my grandparents passed away, their vast fortune disappeared with Jim.
Scott, Jim lives in Bakersfield with his wife, also named Barbara. Before I knew all of this I looked him up and found him in the online phone book. I called him but he did not sound well but didn’t say what was going on. I also talked to his wife. After a while, he finally remembered me. Later he asked “who was that man your mom was friends with?” There was more that led up to that question but it was about Al Anderson who lived there on Jim’s property. Sounds funny now that he would ask that.
Scott, thank you so much for your posts. It has really helped me not feel so alone & be able to talk about it. I am so sorry for what you & other’s have gone through. It is all really horrific. I private messaged my sister more details.
BTW, we always had such fun swimming at your grandparents. Remember the Irish Setter & how it would try to nip at your heals when any dove it? Their SO home had a grapevine along the back wall too :)
No neither were ever charged or arrested, several young boys vanished in the late 70’s and up until 1999
Jim also ran the ” Cozy Corner” cafe in Kernville,CA for years it was a grooming place for young boys he hired to work there, a few years later Jim hired and had my little brother Brian move in with him and two other men. My Brother turned out to eventfully get involved in young boys sexual assaults and porn.
He last i heard runs a cheap store called “Barnes Bargains” in Lake Isabella he still remains close to Ed Jagels. Brian was arrested for rape of a child from Kern Valley High school but Ed had the charges dismissed and the child’s parents were killed one in a firefighter place and the mother of cancer.
Three of Ed’s “Boys” now work for the District Attorney in San Luis Obispo which is now looking like another place of “Pedophile”
Scott, this is off the subject but I remember we were at your grandma’s house in the backyard (not on Noble) but you and your family were there and you made a joke (you were very young) “how do you cut one? you cut a worm in 2.” Silly, but I remember that so vividly.