Violator Re-Arrested
On Probation Charges
By Sandy Cooch

A Randolph man convicted in 2005 of "prohibited acts" with a minor child, was arrested Feb. 13 for being inviolation of probation, two weeks after he volunteered one day in a Randolph Elementary School classroom.

Douglas "Scott" Clark, 36, was arraigned in Orange District Court last week, and ordered held without bail until further court appearance, Sheriff Bill Bohnyak said this week.

Clark was put on probation following a May, 2005 plea agreement, in which he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of "prohibited acts."

Clark was initially charged in 2004 in Orange District Court on a felony charge of sexual assault on a juvenile, but the charge was reduced in the plea settlement.

According to an affidavit filed last week by Probation Officer Richard Kearney, Clark was last week found to be in "gross violation" of his terms of probation on two counts.

One was for being in the school as a volunteer on a single occasion, and the second is a violation that has apparently been ongoing since the fall. Clark is forbidden to have contact with his "victim of record," but has been allegedly in close proximity to his victim twice daily, as he accompanied his own child to a bus stop, police said.

Deputy Sheriff Wendy Libby initially investigated concerns about Clark when she was advised by a parent that a teacher’s newsletter to parents reported that "Scott" was volunteering in the classroom. Deputy Libby also spoke to the mother of the Clark’s victim from the 2004 case, who reported the bus stop problem.

A records check indicated that Clark was on probation for the "prohibited acts" charges, but was not on the Sexual Offenders’ Registry (SOR), because his convictions were for misdemeanor charges.

The OCSD contacted Probation Officer Kearney, who took over the investigation. He interviewed the RES teacher, who said she had encouraged Clark to volunteer in the classroom after meeting him at a parent-teacher conference.

Clark had spent part of one day in her classroom Jan. 31, and it was agreed that he would volunteer once a week. However, the next week he had cancelled, and then a newsletter sent home to parents, referencing Clark’s volunteering in the classroom, ended up triggering the investigation.

Officer Kearney, who also spoke to the 2004 victim’s mother, was told the victim had taken steps "to reduce anxiety," by walking to school with friends. However, the situation apparently was not reported to law enforcement until last week.

Challenges

Those contacted by The Herald this week noted that this unusual case highlights an interconnected set of challenges, or balancing acts for authorities:

• Those faced by school officials as they work to keep children safe, while keeping schools open and welcoming to parents and the public; and

• Those faced by enforcement officials, charged with both public safety and safeguarding the constitutional rights of offenders.

Police are authorized by state law to notify schools, neighbors, and other specified entities about the whereabouts of those on the state’s sexual offenders’ registry. However, Sheriff Bohnyak noted this week that law enforcement officers may not volunteer information to the public about other offenders.

Clark’s case had never been reported in the newspaper, and this week RES Principal Shirley Stewart said that she was not aware of his history.

"How can we get a heads up about this stuff?" she asked.

OSSU Supt. Brent Kay noted that state law requires schools to do criminal records checks for all employees, and that the district does so.

All district contracts also include a disclaimer, noting that the district can immediately terminate an employee for not disclosing information, he said.

However, doing background checks on volunteers and the many other people who come into the schools—some on a daily basis—is "not in reality really feasible," Kay maintained.

The schools do take precautions, he noted. School policy requires that all volunteers be under the supervision of a staff member, and not left alone with children.

"That’s standard operating procedure," he said.

Each school in the district also monitors public access to the school and requires all visitors to sign in and out, he noted.

And, he said, school officials maintain their own informal network of information. Kay noted that Principal Stewart alerted a principal at another school, after she observed a person attending an athletic event, who was under conditions prohibiting contact with minors.

When OSSU learns about such persons, Kay said, the district takes steps to "ban" them from school property, via no-trespass orders.

"Speaking as a person who cares deeply about kids, kids in schools should know they are safe and shouldn’t be exposed to threats like that," he said.

But, it is not clear what more the school can do, Kay added.

"Else you lock the school down and say people can’t come in—and that defeats the purpose of a public school," he said.

This particular case is "unique," Kay added, because the violator is a parent.

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