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Man Accused Of Stealing Items From Cemetery, Giving Them Out As Gifts

AMADOR COUNTY (CBS13) - A registered sex offender has been arrested after sheriff's detectives say he was stealing items from a cemetery and giving them away to neighbors as gifts.

Earlier this month, the Amador County Sheriff's Office received a report that a man was stealing mementos and flowers from grave sites and from the mausoleum at Sunset View Cemetery in Jackson.

Amador County Sheriff's detectives identified the subject as a registered sex offender Jimmy Ray Goodall, 59, of Linden and formerly of Amador County.

"He took items from kids to war veterans," Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan said.

Detectives responded to Goodall's residence and reportedly located items of stolen property in plain view. When contacting residents living nearby, detectives reportedly found stolen property that had been given to neighbors as gifts.

"We've seen people deface grave markers, destruction, ... vandalism in graveyards, but to actually remove mementos left by loved ones for their departed relatives really takes it beyond the pit," Ryan said.

Detectives arrested Goodall at his mother's residence in Valley Springs and charged him with malicious acts (theft) at a cemetery, possession of stolen property and failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements.

"It's particularity invasive and egregious when you invade someone's sorrow like that," Ryan said.

Goodall was booked into the Amador County Jail with bail set at $40,000.

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