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Sex offender arrested at Caroline school

Posted at 3:51 PM, Mar 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-29 15:51:28-04

CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. — A man who appears on the Virginia Sex Offender registry was arrested Thursday morning at Caroline Middle School, according to the Caroline Sheriff’s Office. Along with the arrest announcement, Sheriff Tony Lippa encouraged the people of Caroline to support his office’s request for four additional school resource officers.

Thursday’s arrest happened after Caroline Sergeant C. M. Hall saw the man — who he knew to be a registered sex offender — at the middle school.

“The individual was in the school to drop off an item to a family member,” Sheriff Lippa said. “Sergeant Hall approached him and pulled him to the side where he confirmed the man’s identity.  This individual was in fact on the sex offender’s registry and is forbidden from being on school property.”

The man, whose name was not immediately revealed by the sheriff’s office, was arrested and booked at Pamunkey Regional Jail without bond.

“Sergeant Hall did a superior job in protecting the children at Caroline Middle School,” Sheriff Lippa said. “I would like to remind citizens to contact their local representative to implore that they provide the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office with the four additional school resource officers that we have requested.  Having these additional officers will help make Caroline County a safer place to live, work, and raise a family.”

Earlier this month, Sheriff Lippa laid out his case for more school resource officers.

There are five schools in Caroline County; three elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.

He said in situations where every second counted, having an officer on each campus would greatly improve response time and student safety, but the benefits — he said — would go far beyond that.

“What better way to get to know your police than to have them at all levels,” he explained. “So, you have that mutual respect and you can see from both sides, that our kids do not have to be afraid of police officers, they do not have to be afraid of our school resource officers.”

Lippa said the county used to have multiple resources officers, but cut the number of officers down substantially for financial reasons. However, he said he wanted county leaders to see now was the time to make whatever sacrifices it takes to change that.

This is a developing story. Witnesses can send news tips and photos here.

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