The camp is a church event sponsored by the Living Stone Cathedral of Worship, where Hearns serves as bishop.

Maurice Wyre will no longer work with the camp, which ends Friday, Hearns said at a press conference at the park. He was responding to an article published in Sunday’s Valley Press disclosing Wyre’s role in the camp. While Hearns spoke, about 50 children inside the park’s gym listened to a former Olympic athlete instruct them to work hard, persevere and live a balanced life.

Wyre is listed on the state’s Megan’s Law online sex offender registry for continuous sexual abuse of a child. He underwent 90 days of psychiatric evaluation after pleading no contest to molestation — a lesser charge — in 1995 and served five years probation, which would have ended in 2000.

“In hindsight, while all I did was lawful, I must agree this could have been done differently,” Hearns told reporters. “While my intention from the beginning was that his knowledge of sports would be of great help to the church in planning a new recreational program for youth, I should have strongly counseled him against doing anything outside of adult planning.”

The 42-year-old former athlete and scion of a locally renowned sports family helped plan the camp, but Hearns insists that Wyre never would have had contact with children.

“He does not do anything that has anything to do with the kids, except for planning, on paper, with adults,” the clergyman mayor said Friday. At the press conference, Hearns said several times that that fact had not been reported.

Hearns also stressed that Wyre has no “official” position with the church, although he still sings in the adult choir.

Several parents at the camp told a Valley Press reporter they were comfortable having their children participate in the program at Jackie Robinson Park.

About two months ago, Wyre applied to run a summer youth camp at Littlerock High School, with the backing of a local church.

Wyre’s application remains a minor mystery.

Hearns insists he did not send Wyre two months ago and does not know why he went.

The high school’s vice principal of athletics, Peter Getz, turned down Wyre’s request to use campus facilities.

“I was unaware that he took it upon himself to approach a high school or a county park to ask for involvement with youth,” Hearns said Wednesday. “That would be wrong.”

Getz said last week he could not recall which church Wyre represented, and Getz’s secretary could not locate the original application.

Hearns credited “hindsight” with his decision to remove Wyre and offer the mea culpa, but political pressure may have pushed him as well. On Friday, state legislators George and Sharon Runner spoke to the mayor after learning of Wyre’s role in the camp from a reporter.

The Runners are leading proponents of a measure on the November ballot that would tighten restrictions on sex offenders. “Jessica’s Law,” as the initiative is dubbed, would mandate lifetime electronic monitoring of perpetrators and limit where they could live.

Sharon Runner, a Republican in the state Assembly, said she and her husband encouraged Hearns “to make sure he doesn’t have this gentleman working in any kind of relation with children.”

“I think Henry’s desire to help other people maybe gets in the way of his common sense in dealing with the situation at hand,” she added.

State Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, called removing Wyre a “wise move,” adding that “faulty decision making brought (Hearns) into that situation.”

He said the situation won’t hurt the Jessica’s Law campaign.

“People will make individual decisions and choices. It just points out how important it is for people to be fully aware of what’s happening with their children and how our children are always at risk,” Sen. Runner said. “Without Megan’s Law in place, these kind of issues wouldn’t even be visible.”

Political organizer Darren Parker, who heads the Antelope Valley Human Relations Task Force, joined Hearns at the press conference, standing to the mayor’s right and occasionally prompting him with responses to reporters’ inquiries. Parker ran Hearns’ mayoral campaign earlier this year.

Also a member of Living Stone Cathedral of Worship, Parker said he has met Wyre but didn’t know about his past until reading Sunday’s story. Parker described the man as amiable. At one point, the former athlete did some landscaping work at Parker’s house.

“I didn’t feel threatened when he was there at my home,” said Parker, who has five daughters. “I’ve seen change in his behavior, and growth.”

Councilman Ron Smith also admonished Hearns this week. He said the mayor “has a good heart,” but he told Hearns working with Wyre was a bad idea.

“History shows you with people like that. The majority of child molesters, their whole plan is, ‘How can I get to the next kid?’” said Smith, a former deputy sheriff.

Smith proposed a council resolution supporting Jessica’s Law, which was approved unanimously. Council members may soon consider an ordinance creating “predator-free zones” where those convicted of sex crimes cannot live, in addition to areas around schools and parks.

Hearns’ backtracking on Wyre won’t weaken the council’s efforts or credibility when it tries to crack down on sex offenders, Smith said, noting that the mayor’s job isn’t a managerial position, and “the council’s not governed by one person alone.”

“You can’t un-ring the bell,” he added. “But if you make a mistake, you’ve got to do whatever you can to remedy it and fix it.”

In the early 1990s, Hearns helped push through a city ordinance restricting adult-oriented businesses to heavy industrial zones. The law — still on the books — earned Lancaster the moniker of “The City That Banned Sex.” It applies to adult arcades, adult bookstores, novelty stores, video stores, motels, theaters, nude or semi-nude dance clubs, massage parlors, swing clubs, escort agencies and modeling studios.

Hearns more recently spoke out against porn channels offered through a local cable company, fearing that children might access illicit videos and on Wednesday said he “absolutely” backs the “Jessica’s Law” ballot initiative.

Maurice Wyre is listed on the registry for continuous sexual abuse of a child.

He underwent 90 days of psychiatric evaluation after pleading no contest to molestation — a lesser charge — in 1995 and served five years’ probation, which would have ended in 2000.

The 42-year-old former athlete and scion of a locally renowned sports family will not coach or be a counselor at the camp, which starts Monday and runs for a week, according to Hearns. The mayor and clergyman said he is aware of Wyre’s criminal record but that he is unwilling to cast the man out.

“He does not do anything that has anything to do with the kids, except for planning, on paper, with adults,” Hearns told the Valley Press.

The camp, Hearns said, will teach sports and character development to children ages 12 to 18.

About two months ago, Wyre applied to run a summer youth camp at Littlerock High School, with the backing of a local church.

People at the 2,400-student high school east of Palmdale know of Wyre and his family, a vice principal said. School officials were also aware of Wyre’s background as a sex offender.

A campus administrator quickly found Wyre’s name listed on the sex-offender registry.

Littlerock High gets “hundreds of requests” to use its facilities, said Vice Principal Peter Getz, who oversees the activities office.

“Anybody can turn in a request to use a facility,” Getz said. “Of course, my office declined (Wyre’s application) for obvious reasons.”

Getz personally told Wyre the reason that he couldn’t have access to school facilities to run a youth-oriented program, and he said that Wyre understood the school’s position.

Wyre is not permitted on the campus, the vice principal added. “A lot of people know him and know his history,” Getz said.

Wyre refused to comment when reached on his cell phone Saturday. “If you guys are trying to come up with a Megan’s Law story, you do what you’ve got to do, but I’m not going to comment on it,” he said.

The Littlerock High administrator and Wyre last spoke about six weeks ago.

“I never heard another word after that,” Getz said. “In the two years I’ve been sitting in that chair, his name’s only crossed my desk one time.”

Getz said he could not remember what church Wyre said he was representing, and the vice principal’s secretary was unable to locate the original application.

Hearns said he did not send Wyre as an emissary to Littlerock High, and he did not know what church the registered offender represented in seeking to establish a youth program with Littlerock High School as facility support.

“We let him help us to think things out, but he doesn’t bother anything,” Hearns said of Wyre, who is a member of Living Stone Cathedral of Worship.

“I’m not going to throw the man out and cut his head off because he did that. He needs to be a senior part of our church and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Hearns’ support for the Megan’s Law registered offender’s involvement in planning a character development course for youth is at odds with the mayor and clergyman’s career history as an advocate for a socially conservative religious, moral and legal outlook.

In the early 1990s, as a member of the Lancaster City Council, Hearns helped push through a city ordinance restricting adult-oriented businesses. The law earned Lancaster the moniker of “The City That Banned Sex” in national media coverage.

Hearns more recently spoke out against porn channels offered through a local cable TV company, saying he feared children might access illicit videos.

Hearns is a beneficiary of the political support and patronage of state Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, and Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster.

The husband-and-wife legislative team also are prominent in socially conservative politics as leaders at Desert Christian Schools, which they founded.

They also are the chief architects and proponents — along with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — of the “Jessica’s Law” ballot initiative, which, if passed by voters in November, would be the nation’s toughest sex-offender and child-molester law.

Jessica’s Law would prohibit sex offenders from living near schools or parks, and it would require permanent electronic monitoring of serious perpetrators. The law would add stiffer prison terms as well.

Jessica’s Law would not affect Wyre, since it is not retroactive. It is aimed at sexual offenders who target children, a category with an extraordinarily high occurrence of repeat offenses. Under the law, offenders convicted of offenses such as those for which Wyre is listed would likely be eligible for re-arrest merely by turning up on a school campus.

Apprised that a Megan’s Law offender is participating in a youth-oriented program, Assemblywoman Runner said, “I wouldn’t send my child or grandchild anywhere a registered sex offender was involved.”

“I’m sure Bishop Hearns believes people can change, and I believe that as well,” she continued. “I don’t want to put anybody — adult or child — in that situation.”

Megan’s Law was inspired by the case of 7-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who moved across the street from the family. The Kanka family fought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area. The New Jersey legislature passed Megan’s Law in 1994.

In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed Megan’s Law as an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children’s Act. It required every state to develop some procedure for notifying the public when a sex offender is released into their community. Different states have different procedures for making the required disclosures.

Sharon Runner’s husband, state Senator George Runner, who has also served as a mayor of Lancaster, called the decision to allow a Megan’s Law offender to participate with the planning of a youth camp a case of “poor judgment.”

“I believe that once an individual has committed that kind of a crime, the last place we want them is in any kind of activity with children.

“It seems to me it’s pretty hard to justify any kind of activity that could lead to proximity or a relationship with children.”

Both Runners said Hearns has a “big heart.” Hearns also is a supporter of the “Jessica’s Law” initiative.

“I’m sure that Henry feels confident that there isn’t any danger to children,” George Runner said, Even without direct access to children, placing a Megan’s Law offender in a planning capacity in a youth program is problematic, George Runner observed.

“The problem is going to be one of perception and of concern,” the state senator said.

George Runner called Hearns “a loving, kind man who wants to help people,” but added, “I don’t think Henry necessarily thought through the consequences and how people would react to it.”

Sen. Runner said current law requiring sex offenders to register with the Megan’s Law online database doesn’t prevent a former child molester from planning a day camp or having some advisory capacity with a youth program.

“There’s nothing that keeps an individual from being the coach of a soccer team as a registered sex offender,” Sen. Runner said.

Many youth programs conduct their own diligence, and usually, groups such as the Boy Scouts of America and Big Brothers take their own inventory and make their own decisions who may or may not work within their organizations.

As for Hearns’ decision to let Wyre help plan his camp, Runner said: “There’s no law against this. If it’s all out in the open and people are accepting of this, then it’s up to those families involved.”

He added, “It just would not be a judgment I would make.”