Officials unaware of sex offenders at school

HELENA – The revelation that two sex offenders have been attending a Montana high school prompted a flurry of questions Friday by school officials who wonder why they were never told.

Officials learned the two sex offenders, ages 15 and 19, were attending Belgrade High School in south-central Montana when fellow students saw the pair listed on the state’s online sex offender registry.

“We wouldn’t have known; we would have had no way of knowing,” said Herb Benz, superintendent of Belgrade schools.

Benz said he was perplexed as to why authorities never alerted school administrators to the situation. But the state attorney general’s office said state law has no provision requiring police departments to notify schools if a sex offender enrolls in classes.

In addition, Montana has no restriction on where sex offenders can live and no ban on them attending school, unless a judge decides to specifically order such restrictions, according to the state attorney general’s office.

Benz said the district is meeting with lawyers to see what action it can take, if any, against the student sex offenders and hopes to have answers by early next week. One frustration has been that Benz has been unable to obtain more information on the cases since they are sealed juvenile records, despite their names being listed on the state’s Web site.

The registry only says the 15-year-old male was convicted last year in Washington of three counts of rape of a child. The 19-year-old male was convicted two years ago of one count of sexual intercourse without consent involving a 10-year-old boy. He was listed as a level 2 offender, someone considered a moderate risk of another sexual offense.

A telephone message left at the 15-year-old’s home was not immediately returned. The most recent telephone listing for the family of the 19-year-old was disconnected, and an after-hours call to his attorney’s office was unsuccessful.

In the case of the 15-year-old offender, Benz said their options might be limited by the teen’s right to a free education. That guarantee has expired for the 19-year-old, Benz said. Enrolled at the school for three years, he was suspended this week until school officials – who are temporarily giving him “homebound instruction” – can determine what kind of risk he poses to other students, Benz said. A decision has yet to be made regarding the 15-year-old.

A woman who has two grandchildren at Belgrade High School said she believes authorities should notify administrators when sex offenders go to their school but that parents and students shouldn’t be told.

“I truly hate to see them make spectacles of these boys if they are truly trying to put their pasts behind them,” Kay Hager said in a telephone interview. “I think it should be held confidential, but I do feel the administration and probably the school board should be made aware.”

She fears a suspension could be an overreaction on an emotional issue and believes authorities would never let the boys attend school if they were a danger.

The law that requires juvenile sex offenders to register with local authorities, unless a judge decides it’s not necessary, was just adopted this year. Previously, judges could decide to place the offender on the registry, but were not required to.

Officials say juvenile sex offenders have been going to schools for years but that no one knew it in the case of sealed juvenile cases.

“Once it is on the Web page, it kind of forces the issue,” Benz said.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch said the move this year to place juvenile offenders on the state registry is creating problems schools haven’t faced before.

“This is not an issue that has ever come before me,” she said.

Rep. John Sinrud, a Republican from neighboring Bozeman, said laws to restrict the movements of sex offenders in Montana have been unsuccessful in the past. He ushered new, tougher sex offense laws through the Legislature early this year modeled after the so-called “Jessica’s Law,” but recent legislation has not focused on juvenile offenders.

The Belgrade case points to flaws in the system, particularly since parents and administrators are not specifically made aware that a sex offender is attending school with their children, he said.

“I sure would not feel comfortable with my kids going to a school where there are sex offenders,” Sinrud said.