April 15, 2004

Sex offender resigns as resident assistant

By Bill Choy
Ashland Daily Tidings

A registered sex offender who was hired as a resident assistant at Southern Oregon University in March recently resigned amid concerns from many on campus.

"Upon learning that a newly appointed residence hall assistant is a registered sex offender, the Vice President of Student Affairs met with the student and they concluded that it would be wise for him to assume another position," the university said in a press release Wednesday.

School officials said the offense involving the male adult student in his 20s occurred when he was 13. They say that he is a model student, who is not considered a risk to other students at the university. But in response to recent events, school officials say they are revising residence checks for students.

The student was convicted, according to the Oregon State Police, of sexual abuse in the second degree. He is no longer on probation and is unsupervised. According to police officials he is not, by law, prohibited from any type of role working with people.

Sexual abuse in the second degree is a crime of unwanted sexual activity, and is considered a Class C felony.

According to Joey Ngan, director of security and safety at SOU, the student was close to having his name removed from the sex offender list.

Dan Malin, who manages the sex offender list for the OSP said there are three ways to get off the list: by death, having the conviction reversed or vacated, or to petition for relief. The last of these requires that they have a clear criminal record aside from the one conviction, and a responsible history of registration.

Concern on campus

In recent days concern about the student's appointment had risen on campus.

Adrienne Wonhof, director of the university's Women's Resource Center said for them the issue is not about the student directly, but about the school's policy on sex offenders and how it handled the situation.

Wonhof said housing officials were aware of the man's background when he was hired.

Ngan confirmed that security knew the man was a registered sex offender since last fall and monitored him.

"He had literally [posed] no risk from what we have seen," Ngan said.

But some students disagree. Adam Lyons, a senior on campus said he talked to the housing office about the situation.

"I lived in the dorms," Lyons said. "For me the concern is what kind of policy is this setting. Their job is to protect students. It seems like a slap in the face to the female student body."

Wonhof said her concern also relates to the school policies in general, more so than the specific instance of this student. She is concerned about the precedence of allowing a registered sex offender having access to keys to dorm rooms and access to students younger then himself.

"I think it's inappropriate to hire a sex offender," she said. "As a whole, sex offenders shouldn't be in a position of power over younger people."

Wonhof said a student discovered the man was a sex offender last summer while looking through the local sex offender registry list. At the time, the student had been working as building manager at the Student Union prior to leaving the campus in the fall for an internship.

"I was surprised. I worked with him and respect him," Wonhof said.

Surprise turned to concern in late January, when Wonhof discovered the man was living in the dorms and had become an alternate RA.

She said she spoke to Ruth Stoddard, director of residential life and housing at SOU.

Stoddard, Wonhof said, told her that her department had talked to the student, looked over his background and that he was not considered a risk.

"I told her I didn't think it was an appropriate position for him to be in," Wonhof said. "But she really felt like he wasn't a threat. I disagreed."

Stoddard would not comment for this article. Christina Dunlap, public relations coordinator for the university said staff can not discuss students, citing confidentiality laws.

Wonhof said she also discussed the issue with Laura O'Bryon, interim dean of students at SOU, who agreed that the student presented no threat or harm in his position.

"I was upset with that," she said. "I felt it was a wrong decision. ... I feel people deserve a second chance, but in an appropriate area."

By March, word had spread to students about the RA.

"Our safety is in jeopardy," said Lynna Amend, a student advocate for the Women's Resource Center. "They shouldn't hire these people. Students and I thought there should be a policy change."

SOU student Eva Ford was also surprised to hear that a registered sex offender was an RA.

"It didn't make much sense to me," she said. "It doesn't seem like a good idea for students to have someone who is in recovery, like a sex offender, who has access to keys. It's an unfair position to be in as well."

The student in question says he was surprised by the uproar. "I don't think the human factor was looked at in this," he said. "Just the title of sexual offender, which has a wide and broad definition."

The student says he has held leadership roles under the mentorship of others on campus. He wanted to become an RA to further develop his skills. "I like working with people and being very supportive," he said. "And that's what led me toward this path."

He says he has a lot of friends on campus who have continued to offer him support.

"It means a lot to me to have their trust, and no matter what happens, they see me as a person."

The student refused to comment about the nature of his offense, or about the specifics of recent events, calling most of the comments around campus "hearsay."

Policy changes

Eventually concerned students met with the administration.

After meetings with the students, security, the women's resource center and housing staff, Diane Brimmer, vice president of student affairs, decided the university should work on a policy that would address these issues

"Practices of the university, in conducting reference checks for candidates seeking employment in residence life are being developed into formal policy, in response to concerns underlying the new Federal Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act and to continue to improve university employment practices," a statement from the university administration issued Wednesday said.

It was also mutually decided at that time for the student to resign as the RA.

School officials said that the issue had been taken care of internally and resolved. But discrepancies remain. On Monday, Ngan called the issue "rumors" that were "spreading like wildfire." He said at that time, that "I'm concerned someone is doing this to make something out of nothing, or because they have a grudge."

He also said that the applicant had applied to be an RA but was removed from the list of applicants during the screening process.

On Wednesday, Ngan said that there must have been a "misunderstanding" between him and the reporter. The reporter, John Darling, a correspondent for the Tidings, stands by the accuracy of his story in its entirely.

What's next

News of the development of a new school policy has helped to quell campus concern according to some students and staff. Wonhof said she is pleased the university is taking steps to put this policy in place.

"This policy is exactly what we needed before," she said. "It will resolve a lot of issues that have occurred."

While Wonhof is glad SOU is looking at changing its policy, she wished the school handled things differently.

"I think from the beginning some poor decisions were made," she said. "Not having a policy in place made making a decision difficult. If this had been handled with honesty from the beginning, there would be less chaos and students would feel fairly treated by the administration."

Ford concurred.

"It was a little disappointing it took this long for there to be some action, but now they're doing a really good job," she said. "I'm sad it had to happen this way, but I'm glad there's a policy in place."

John Darling, Peter Hahnloser and Myles Murphy contributed to this report.