Unbelievable reason pedophile was invited so school dance to take photos of unsuspecting children
Kansas parents were left outraged after a registered sex offender showed up at an elementary school dance and was seen taking photos or video of unsuspecting children.
The unidentified offender was seen at the Sole Mate Dance for students in grades one through six at Blue River Elementary School on February 8, making his way to the edge of the dance floor and pointing his phone’s camera in the direction of students, parents told the Johnson County Post.
They said they recognized the man – who pleaded guilty in 2011 to possessing child pornography – shortly after the event began, causing a stir among the parents in attendance, who then met in another room to discuss what to do without upsetting the children.
The group ultimately conferred with Principal Melissa Blevins, who took the man aside. He left shortly thereafter.
But Blevins said the sex offender had received permission to be at the school function.
The offender has been living with a woman who has children at the school and received permission from school officials to be at the dance, according to Fox 4.
The news stunned the parents, who argued the convict should be nowhere near children.
‘When you go read about what he was charged with, then I’m no so fond of him taking videos,’ said father Colter Daubert.
Kansas parents were left outraged when a registered sex offender showed up to an elementary school dance and started recording
Blue River Elementary School was hosting its Sole Mate Dance for students in grades one through six on February 8
The sex offender had been indicted in 2010 for sharing sexually explicit images of minors on LimeWire, a person-to-person sharing platform, the Johnson County Post reports.
He pleaded guilty the following year to distribution or receipt of child pornography via the internet and was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison plus seven years of supervision upon release.
But he remains on the sex offender registry for the next 17 years because at the time of his arrest, police found hundreds of photos and videos of naked girls between the ages of one and 14 – including one photo showing a six to eight year old girl being sexually assaulted, according to Fox 4.
‘There’s no way I would let someone like that even around the children,’ said Daubert, who noted that district officials did not even inform parents of the decision to allow him on campus.
Natasha Goellner, a mother of a girl at the school, also wrote on social media that her daughter was on the dance floor when the man started recording.
‘Does he have footage of her? Probably. But we’ll never know, will we?’
She told Fox 4 that the Blue Valley School District always claims it stresses safety and security at its events.
‘[The school district] should know better!’ she argued.
Natasha Goellner, a mother of a girl at the school, also wrote on social media that her daughter was on the dance floor when the man started recording and is worried he may have footage of her little girl
‘It’s a school district. They have policies for everything. But they really didn’t have a policy in place for sex offenders.’
Goellner and at least nine other parents emailed district officials about the incident in the aftermath.
In an email back, which Goellner posted online, Superintendent Tonya Merrigan said district policy allows registered sex offenders with family members in the district to come to school events and be monitored during them.
‘This process is designed to uphold the safety and well-being of all students, while allowing the student to have their parent or guardian in attendance at the activity,’ she explained.
She noted that the requests are ‘rare’ and ‘carefully reviewed,’ and said that in this case, the Director of Safety and Security was made aware of the sex offender’s presence and ‘has continued to assess any potential safety threat.
‘That said, I have requested an immediate review of this administrative guidelines with direction to provide additional clarity around the specific steps required when considering a special request.’
Blue River Elementary School Principal Melissa Blevins said that the man had received permission to be at the dance, but schools Superintendent Tonya Merrigan said she has now requested an immediate review of the school board’s policy
The Board of Education will now review the policy at its March meeting to address who can authorize the requests, specific expectations for supervision, photo restrictions and family notifications.
There would then be a 30-day patron review period before the revised policy is approved in April.
‘We remain dedicated to maintaining a safe and supportive school environment,’ a district spokesperson told Fox 4. ‘This policy update will reflect our ongoing commitment to student safety.’
Both Daubert and Goellner now say they plan to be involved in the district’s review process, and will also be reaching out to state lawmakers to see how they can affect state law – which currently does not prohibit sex offenders from entering school buildings.
