PARIS, Maine — A registered sex offender on probation after serving five years for gross sexual assault was arrested last week for attending a school volunteer trip and having contact with minors in September.
Rodney A. Heath, 38, of 970 Gore Road in Otisfield, who also goes by the name of Rodney Shackley, was charged with prohibited contact with a minor after attending a weekend field trip of the Oxford Hills Technical School.
Heath, a tattoo artist, was convicted of Class B unlawful sexual conduct, Class C aggravated criminal trespass, and Class D domestic assault in 2007 and sentenced to eight years, with all but five suspended and three years of probation.
In 2008, while serving time at the Maine State Prison, he pleaded no contest to a charge of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. He was sentenced to one year, to be served concurrently with his previous sentence. He is a lifetime registrant on the state sex offender registry.
At the Sept. 15 outing, a witness said she saw Heath there. She said Heath spent a lot of time talking to a 10-year-old girl. The conditions of Heath’s probation bar him from contact with children under age 18 and from going on school property.
School officials said they are looking at how to prevent sex offenders from getting into future events. According to the police report, a student journalist interviewed Heath in a story that was printed in the Advertiser-Democrat weekly newspaper. Heath was quoted as “Rodney Smith.”
“It was a surprise to us,” said Shawn Lambert, director of Oxford Hills Technical School in Paris. Lambert said it was a weekend volunteer event, in which students took a bus from the school to the Saco River in Fryeburg, rode in canoes and cleaned trash and debris from the river.
Lambert said students were encouraged to bring family members. Heath is the uncle of a student at the school, Lambert said. Heath went on school grounds, Lambert said, which was a violation of his parole conditions, and boarded a school bus. Lambert said he signed in simply as “Uncle Rod,” which he said was common for informal trips.
He said the trip is annual, with school staff and Oxford Hills SkillsUSA members. “It’s been kind of a ‘get-to-know-you’ activity,” Lambert said. “We try to get as many people to come as possible.”
“It’s less like a field trip, and more like, there’s this activity going on that’s public,” Lambert said. “Obviously, maintaining the safety is our first responsibility.”
“He was volunteering, but he wasn’t necessarily volunteering for the school,” Lambert said. “We do have a school volunteer policy.” He said regular class trips conduct background checks on parents who sign up as chaperons. He said Heath wasn’t a chaperon.
Lambert called the incident “a testament to society. Things are a lot more complicated than they used to be,” he said Tuesday.
Heath is being held without bail, and Wayne Sturdivant of the Maine Department of Corrections has signed a motion to revoke Heath’s probation. According to Sturdivant’s statement, on Oct. 10 Heath was terminated from sex offender counseling “for unsatisfactory participation in counseling. The counselor further stated that he believes Mr. Heath presents a danger to public safety,” Sturdivant wrote.
Heath is set to appear in Oxford County Superior Court in Paris on Nov. 6.
Lock him up and try to keep him this time,he knew he wasnt supposed to be there and still lied to go.He was on the prowl,glad he was caught,now lets see him get the harshest sentence allowed.Hopefully those kind hearted judges wont just slap his hand.
In Brewer all volunteers are REQUIRED to have a background check.
Maybe the schools should check out the Maine website that has pictures and names of sex offenders?? Not to hard to do. But if he was from out of state then I dont know an easy way to check them out..
I agree that the schools should do this. You can’t be too careful. And as I point out in my post, name searches can be done with either first or last names.
I know that Massachusetts has a similar website that shows sex offenders. I would think that other states have them also.
I’m not sure they arrested the right person. Why isn’t the person who planned and signed off on this trip also in handcuffs? This looks like a serious failure of the school to protect the kids.
its maines “relaxed” laws that allowed this
In today’s world how can this happen? Chaperone or not shouldn’t all adult participents of a school trip be vetted in some manor?
Well, I am shocked at this story as well and understand the point that posters are making about requiring background checks, but really? Do you think schools can afford that? I took 50 of my students to a museum a few years ago…I needed 1 adult per 10 kids, so I just asked kids to ask their parents. I didn;t do background checks on the parents, and I suppose any of those parents/guardians could have been offenders. How are we to know? I had tp pay $55 for a background check when I started teaching, I dont know how we could afford that everytime we needed a chaperone or classroom volunteer. we already have to make kids pay for the bus to go on a field trip, asking them to foot the bill for background checks would probably eliminate the possibly of taking field trips.
How about a quick search on the Maine Sexual Offender Registry. I found this clown in 30 seconds.
You knew his full name and alias. How does one go about looking up “Uncle Rod”? Maybe asking for a license or other govt issued ID would be one way, and record that information at least. If other parents knew, they should have spoken up before he was allowed to board the bus. It might have been awkward for school officials, but someone could have taken the time to at least look at the SOR. If he had been found, he should have been told it would be in everybody’s best interest if he did not attend. My biggest question is: was that 10-year old his niece or another child?
“You knew his full name and alias. How does one go about looking up “Uncle Rod”?”
Why would the school let anyone onto a bus full of children signing in only as “Uncle Rod”? Why would a school ley anyone onto the bus without advance notice as to who each participent be? I guess in light of this situation I will be questioning who the participents be for any of my children’s school trips.
I agree with you. The article indicated this has been an annual, and informal event and that it was not uncommon for people to sign in this way. I doubt it will be that way ever again at this school, or any of its events.
My youngest is about to graduate high school, but when they were younger and went on field trips, I’ll admit, I left safety up to the school. Maybe that is something parents should NOT take for granted.
I am not familiar with the registry, but I suppose it’s something I should check out in the future. I honestly never thought that I would have students who had sex-offender parents volunteering to chaperone my field trips. The world has changed, and I guess I need to realize that! Still checking out the registry is not the same as doing a background check, which is what many people have suggested.
Well there you go.
You could start with the Maine sex offender website. It’s free!
our super’s office, schools & bus garage has pictures of local sex offenders. How hard is that!? Updated frequently
“Off with his Head!” Which of course would include the neck tat
Both of them, then we wouldn’t have to worry so much about his drive.
The bangor daily states that school officials said they are looking at how to prevent sex offenders from getting into future events – easy it can be done if these pigs are locked up for good the first time around! How stupid can one be. He does one time and he will do it again so it is simple lock them up for pete’s sake or another child will be a victim!
“Uncle Rod’s” parents didn’t know he spent 5 years in prison for molesting a 13 year old?
I would be questioning the school allowing him to get on a bus with other students. There must be a rule somewhere that requires ANYONE getting on a school bus with children to have had a background check.
How could the parents of the student he came with have allowed that? Why would they be allowing their child around an uncle who has been in trouble for molestation?
Also, If he was sentenced in 2007 to five years in jail, he must have either just gotten out or they let him go early.
Neck tattoo
Stupid is what Stupid does. Eh what?
For future reference of school officials who were blindsided by someone who clearly knew he was not supposed to be around minors, you can do a name search of possible sex offenders in Maine by using either a first or last name. I think that he should be charged with using a false name as well as violations of his conditions of release.
Actually there is nothing illegal about “using a false name” in Maine unless you do it to commit financial fraud, or give a false name to a sworn State official.
neuter than gas please
Uncle Rod was the uncle of who? a boy or girl student.. was the 10 year old girl student uncle rod’s niece? there is something missing here..
What is really amazing is how many people want to trade liberty for security. Ben Franklin would not be amused.
These creeps never give up. Prison taught him nothing obviously. There are so many of them everywhere, how are parents able to keep their children safe? So many children abducted, innocently walking to school. The sentences should be so harsh they never get out of prison.
Is the neck tattoo a unicorn? My pretty pony perhaps?
Hang him
Where is the school board here? They are supposed to be the ones who make up the rules and guide lines. If the school board has did this,then someone should be fired!
“School officials said they are looking at how to prevent sex offenders from getting into future events.”
I have an idea, this POS is a tattoo artist. Make part of his sentence (for the rest of his life) to tattoo baby rapists foreheads with the words,”Know Child Molester”, it would cut down on these crimes. If that is to offensive, make them wear,”Fan of Bob Carlson” t-shirts. I’m just saying………
I got out of the school system because I had to prove my innocence. Now they are letting people into school situations that have been proved guilty?
Funny how Lambert blames society when HE failed to keep that monster away from his students.
responding the comment below about prison taught him nothing, you’re right but in the sense that prison cannot teach sexual deviants how to behave its in their DNA it is “who” they are, like a coyote to a rabbit it’s what they do… they cannot change, if prison was to teach them anything it has taught them how to avoid getting caught the next time… call me harsh as i’m sure some of you will, child predators serve not useful purpose to society other than panick and fear, cull the herd……………..
If he had been sentenced to 28 years in prison, he would not have had the opportunity to be around children! He’d still be in jail…
He did not follow the conditions of probation and should be locked up. On another note, shouldn’t a panel of experts be the ones to determine if he is dangerous or not? Why should only ONE councelor be trusted to make that decision?