Flat Rock Middle employee arrested, terminated on charges of having registered sex offender on campus
A Flat Rock Middle School employee has been terminated after her arrest by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office on charges of having a registered sex offender on campus, according to police.
The Sheriff’s Office was notified Dec. 16 that Maria Edina Walker is married to a registered sex offender, Jeffery Lynn Walker, and that he had been seen in a vehicle on the school campus, according to a HCSO news release. It is illegal for a registered sex offender to be on school property at any time.
“We immediately notified the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, and began an internal investigation in cooperation with law enforcement,” McGowan Gorsuch said in the statement. “As a result of that investigation, we confirmed that the individual in question, Jeffery Lynn Walker, is a registered sex offender and that at Maria Walker’s invitation, he had been on the Flat Rock Middle campus.
“Ms. Walker’s actions were grossly inappropriate and inexcusable. We immediately terminated Maria Walker from employment for her actions, which are a violation of state law and Board policy. … We will continue to investigate this matter to ensure the safety of all Flat Rock Middle students and staff.”
[FAC NOTE: The husband’s offense took place more than 20 years ago, adjudication was withheld]
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I do want to be honest (Yell at me if you want) The wife put her own job in jeopardy and has no one to blame but herself.
Wait, so ” It is illegal for a registered sex offender to be on school property at any time.” but a non registered sex offender who has the same or maybe worse charges are allowed on campus?
So the registry which is supposed to be a safety net, arrest people who are doing something that it totally legal. Legal for most including a former sex offender that is not registered. So the line in the sand is, a non registered former offender is not going to offend, but a registered sex offender is still offending?
My head hurts. Now I know why there is push back of getting off the registry. One word ,CONTROL !
And yes I know we are not allowed on school property. I know quite well. I was detained once for over an hour for walking PAST a CLOSED school on the sidewalk, just passing by. Since it was a weekend, FDLE said they could arrest me but they were not sure, and if they were wrong, I could personally sue the arresting officer for false arrest. (The officer was on speaker phone hoping they would help him, instead it helped me, I was let go after a nasty unprofessional chewing out)
North Carolina allows people to petition to be removed from the registry. I personally don’t think that the restrictions are as detailed as Florida’s nitpicking, but I was told that if I went on school property to get my son, I had to notify the principal immediately. So said the deputy I registered with, but my paperwork explicitly said no being on school property. I hope that in ten years I can. My charges are from Florida, so I will see if it’s possible for me to get that. I tend to think that this particular incident is about something more than just being a registrant. I’m still stunned that the wife is being charged.
Meanwhile in Florida, former NFL star Lawrence Taylor was arrested in Broward County on two sex offender violation charges related to his alleged failure to register.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/nfl-lawrence-taylor-florida-sex-offender
Soooooo, his constitutional rights are not being violated by retroactively restricting where he can go and what he can do (his freedoms) why?
This is like Florida retroactively telling me im not allowed to work at some places. I can understand making a law against hiring certain people by certain business’s or agencies (putting the burden on the business/ agency) , but to retroactively take one’s freedoms is definitely unconstitutional.
AND, they certainly don’t like it when we have successful relationships. When I started dating my wife, my PO stopped by while I was working and grilled her about why someone with her standing (she only had her graduate degree at that time) would be involved with someone like me. Fortunately for me, she has a backbone and questioned why HER choices were HIS business.
With this most recent attack on me (vigilantism due to my presence on the registry) , the state called into question my wife’s credibility and tried to paint her as some sort of accomplice or, at minimum, enabler to my supposed wickedness. She lost her job and her reputation took a huge hit. These are the things the state does to try to intimidate anyone who could provide us with stability and give us a bit of shelter from persecution. Hell, they have certainly black- balled us registrants so that we can’t even work at most fast food places (businesses are more afraid of the hit they’ll take if/ when it becomes known that they employ a registrant than fear of a registrant committing a new crime. ) Fortunately, she weathered the storm and, after vindication of the accusations against her, has a job in the same field that she loves even more.
I bring all of this up because in this article it shows they are persecuting the wife fire allowing a registrant on school grounds. It sounds as if she had him remain in the car so that she could enter the school by herself. (Does this possibly mean there was no mens rea on her part?) In all of the schools around me, the school is fenced of from the visitor parking area with gates that force you to pass through the office. That would be keeping students separate from any unvetted visitors. This would seem to suggest that by having him remain in the car, she thought she was following the law by not allowing him into the school. Of course we know it’s likely that some bitter and hate- filled person saw him sitting there and decided that, although he was remaining in the car, there was some bullying to be done and called authorities.
So, does this mean a registrant in North Carolina can’t drop off and pick up their own children? Craziness!
Sorry for the rant, but this kinda resonated with me.
Jim
You are not alone. I won’t go into detail but I lost the love of my life in a similar situation. They showed up at her home, her work, and told her if she did not stop dating me, they would find a way to send me back to prison and it would be “HER Fault”. When she broke up with me, she would not explain. She just said to “Leave her alone”.
It was not until years later I ran into her somewhere and she explained what happened. She was protecting me. I was on probation at the time and was no longer when we met again. She had since gotten married and I told her she was probably better off since living with someone on the registry was not an easy road.
I gave up on dating years ago as that was not the only time something like that has happened. You tell the truth and they say it doesn’t matter, until suddenly it does. I have been alone now for 11 years. (Other than living with my parents. Fun times)
CherokeeJack
I’m blessed that my girlfriend, her parents, siblings, family members, and her employers have been supportive. If anyone messes with me or Anne you might as well mess with a badger, she’ll rip one to shreds.
I understand, I m in a similar situation. I live in North Carolina. I have a two teenage kids, one still in high school. God forbid something necessitates me going to campus to get my child.
BWJ
I can see it now. The call goes out there is an active shooter on campus. You come to pick up your kids because of it. As soon as you arrive, the Police Commander for the incident calls over his radio “Forget the shooter, all units respond to my location. OMG there is a registered sex offender on campus, send back up and all available units”.
CherokeeJack
Great call . Love it.
Another sheriff to add to Phase 3 of the Media Blitz.
“Grossly inappropriate and inexcusable?” Really?!? Good grief!