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CMS bus stop in front of sex offender's house (School district refuses to move location)
Charlotte Observer ^ | Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009 | Tony Burbeck

Posted on 08/22/2009 5:45:35 PM PDT by Sam's Army

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus stop is right in front of a registered sex offender's house, but CMS won't change the bus stop's location despite parents' pleas.

That has parents in the Winget Pond neighborhood ticked off. They contacted us after getting their childrens' bus assignments in the mail.

His name is Robert Lance Neal. Court records show he's a registered sex offender, convicted for sexually abusing a 10-year-old in Illinois.

Now, records show Neal lives on Arrington Heights Place in Charlotte. Out his front door is a CMS bus stop.

"Eight to ten that I'm aware of," a mother says describing home many children are picked up at the stop.

She doesn't want to be identified, but wants a new bus stop further away from Neal.

"I do believe that there are some easy steps that could be taken that at least we could feel more comfortable with, knowing that kids are being dropped off on that particular corner of the neighborhood," she said.

But, CMS says the bus stop location isn't changing because they can't control and police bus stops.

And, CMS says registered sex offenders are everywhere -- and it would have to change bus stops all the time.

We searched and found three sex offenders in the Winget Pond neighborhood. Broaden out the search to 5 miles and you can see more sex offenders pop up.

Parent Valerie Hall doesn't buy CMS' explanation. Her five kids use that bus stop.

"There's no way that an elementary school girl should be at a bus stop where a sex offender lives," Hall said.

Neighbors say Neal stays to himself and hasn't caused problems. They say he's the example of their concern, and so too is CMS' lack of action.

"You do what you have to do to protect our children. That's the main concern," Hall said.

CMS policy says sex offenders can't go on CMS property. That includes bus stops. So, it means when Neal is home and kids are at the bus stop, he can't be there. If he is, CMS law enforcement will remove him.

CMS asks parent to help them monitor these situations and stay at the bus stops with their kids until they get on the bus.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: arth; bus; charlotte; cms; local

1 posted on 08/22/2009 5:45:35 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: metmom

Homeschool ping


2 posted on 08/22/2009 5:46:07 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: Sam's Army

bad solutions are really just bigger problems.


3 posted on 08/22/2009 5:47:10 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (this slope is getting slippereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...)
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To: Sam's Army
"His name is Robert Lance Neal. Court records show he's a registered sex offender, convicted for sexually abusing a 10-year-old in Illinois."

"Now, records show Neal lives on Arrington Heights Place in Charlotte. Out his front door is a CMS bus stop."

4 posted on 08/22/2009 5:48:57 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: Sam's Army
CMS policy says sex offenders can't go on CMS property.

Well put a bus stop in front of every sex offender's house and since it is against the law to trespass then problem solved.

The children are saved!

5 posted on 08/22/2009 5:52:22 PM PDT by Eaker (If you have a problem and If explosives are an option then explosives are THE answer.)
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To: Sam's Army

They should move it a block away. Sex offenders never walk a block.


6 posted on 08/22/2009 5:53:00 PM PDT by Larry Lucido (This tagline excerpted. To read more, click on MyOverratedBlog.com)
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To: Sam's Army
It's like dangling a steak in front of a dog, setting up a bar in front of an alcoholic, or placing stacks of money in front of a thief.

Move the bus stop or move the child molester.

7 posted on 08/22/2009 5:53:50 PM PDT by NautiNurse (Obama: A day without TOTUS is like a day without sunshine)
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To: Sam's Army

8 posted on 08/22/2009 5:55:41 PM PDT by StandUpChuck
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To: Sam's Army

http://sexoffender.ncdoj.gov/details.aspx?SRN=017167S7


9 posted on 08/22/2009 5:57:04 PM PDT by StandUpChuck
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To: Larry Lucido
"They should move it a block away. Sex offenders never walk a block."

That's likely to be the end game here, innit?

I'd vote that we not allow folks who rape 10 year-old boys out of prison ever, but I never see such topics on my ballot.

10 posted on 08/22/2009 5:58:56 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: 2Jedismom; AAABEST; aberaussie; Aggie Mama; agrace; AliVeritas; AlmaKing; AngieGal; Antoninus; ...

ANOTHER REASON TO HOMESCHOOL

This ping list is for the “other” articles of interest to homeschoolers about education and public school. This can occasionally be a fairly high volume list. Articles pinged to the Another Reason to Homeschool List will be given the keyword of ARTH. (If I remember. If I forget, please feel free to add it yourself)

The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.

11 posted on 08/22/2009 5:59:25 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Sam's Army

One thing notably missing from the article is whether the bus stop or sex offender was there first.

Did he move to near where kids would be? And isn’t that prohibited for him?

Or did the school put the bus stop in front of his house? Not a brilliant move on their part as they are charged with protecting the children during the school day and on school property.


12 posted on 08/22/2009 6:03:18 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: metmom

Your post reminds me who important it is that the leftist Big Government Public school monopoly should be phased out and completely eliminated as soon as possible.


13 posted on 08/22/2009 6:05:12 PM PDT by Old Landmarks (No fear of man, none!)
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To: Sam's Army

If you can’t move the stop move the pervert.


14 posted on 08/22/2009 6:08:28 PM PDT by Recon Dad ( MARSOC DAD)
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To: Sam's Army
I'd vote that we not allow folks who rape 10 year-old boys out of prison ever, but I never see such topics on my ballot.

I have always been confused on why such people are ever allowed out of prison. As far as I'm concerned, in the unlikely event that responsible adults fail to solve the problem before trial, the perverted predator should be locked up for life with no possibility of parole (or executed). I can't conceive of why anyone who valued our children would think otherwise.

15 posted on 08/22/2009 6:09:05 PM PDT by TurtleUp (flag@whitehouse.gov <------- So this is how liberty dies - to thunderous applause!)
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To: Eaker

Well, according to the doctrine of newspeak, sex offender is just a socially constructed reality. Maybe sometime long ago, or sometime in the future, sex offender could mean something else entirely. The school board has to look at the long view of things; they can’t be changing bus stop locations just because they might be co-located with a liquor store, a whorehouse, an ACLU office, a stripjoint, a democratic party headquarters, or a crack house.

Actually, if the locals would all show up at a school board meeting and just keep mumbling “mmm...mmm...mmm” it would scare the crap out the worthies, violate no laws, and convey the message that the people actually are in charge and can take charge when the “authorities” go deaf and dumb.


16 posted on 08/22/2009 6:12:47 PM PDT by mathurine (qu)
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To: Eaker
Well put a bus stop in front of every sex offender's house and since it is against the law to trespass then problem solved.

Blatantly obvious, huh. Isn't there a law against these freaks living within so many feet of a school? Then he's in violation of the law if CMS can somehow prove a bus stop is legally their property. It isn't their property but whatever.

OTOH, imagine how the bus driver must feel. You know the first time he pokes his head out the window, the parents will name the driver in a suit against the school. If I were the driver, I'd have his picture posted at the front of the bus and wait until each student is away from the house. Not that he couldn't be hiding a block away, but still.

17 posted on 08/22/2009 6:20:11 PM PDT by bgill (The evidence simply does not support the official position of the Obama administration)
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To: Sam's Army
CMS asks parent to help them monitor these situations and stay at the bus stops with their kids until they get on the bus.

Seems like a sensible solution. Maybe too obvious? Or just too much trouble for the parents who want to shove little Johnny out the door & be done with him for the day? After all, there are unknown sexual predators out there, prolly lurking down by where the parents want to move the bus stop.

18 posted on 08/22/2009 6:26:40 PM PDT by elli1
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To: metmom

Or did the school put the bus stop in front of his house? Not a brilliant move on their part as they are charged with protecting the children during the school day and on school property.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What would the Child Protection Services do to a parent ( or a friend of the family) that ordered children to congregate on the sidewalk in front of a sex molester’s door on a **daily** basis ( or even did this once)?

Well...If the CPS would crack down on a parent or family friend, then teachers and principals should be held to the **same** standard of safety!

It is time we ended this double standard. What is this? Animal Farm? The teachers and principals live in the farmer’s house, safe from CPS scrutiny, and parents and ordinary citizen get the CPS knocking down the barn door?


19 posted on 08/22/2009 6:33:47 PM PDT by wintertime (People are not stupid! Good ideas win!)
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To: metmom
"Did he move to near where kids would be? And isn’t that prohibited for him?

"Or did the school put the bus stop in front of his house?

Excellent questions. I am sure that CMS would refer you to the transportation division, who would refer you over to the subcommittee that did school boundaries, who would refer you to the Board of Directors, who would refer you to the Superintendent, who would refer you to the CMS attorney, who would have no comment.

20 posted on 08/22/2009 6:36:52 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: wintertime

Time to recall the school board members if they don’t do something about this.


21 posted on 08/22/2009 6:36:56 PM PDT by nufsed (Release the birth certificate, passport, and school records.)
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To: Sam's Army
The underlying problem is the very concept of a "registered sex offender".

If they are too dangerous to be within 50 feet of children (or whatever it is), they are too dangerous to be out of prison, period.

22 posted on 08/22/2009 6:40:04 PM PDT by Salman
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To: StandUpChuck

He was convicted in August 2007 and is already out. Probably public urination or mooning a patrol car.


23 posted on 08/22/2009 6:41:45 PM PDT by proxy_user
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To: elli1

This is why I always drove my kids to school and picked them up after school. That way I knew they got to school and got home with no problems. We lived in one location that the year before we moved there a young girl was kidnapped from the bus stop and found but that just reaffirmed my driving the kids to and from school.


24 posted on 08/22/2009 6:43:38 PM PDT by PhiKapMom (Mary Fallin - OK Gov/Coburn - Senate 2010 ! Take Back the House/Senate! Stop ZERO!)
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To: Sam's Army

If you have a kid in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School district, you have a lot more to worry about than perverts at the bus stops! We made the sacrifice to put ours in private school.


25 posted on 08/22/2009 6:44:17 PM PDT by Big_Harry ( Thank God I am an "Infidel"!)
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To: elli1
"Or just too much trouble for the parents who want to shove little Johnny out the door & be done with him for the day?

Any parent worth their salt will do whatever it takes to keep their child out of danger.

The bigger questions are as follows:

1)Why are child rapists ever able to see the light of day either outside of prison or at any height above 6 feet underground?

2) What makes some folks come to the defense of said predators, and not question the judgement of bureaucrats who willingly take such risks with children placed in their care?

26 posted on 08/22/2009 6:45:29 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: Sam's Army
CMS says the bus stop location isn't changing because they can't control ...

Who assigns bus stops, then, if it's not the school district?

CMS has a *billion dollar* budget, and it's run by people with no more brains than gerbils.

27 posted on 08/22/2009 6:45:42 PM PDT by Tax-chick (If you've ever discovered your cow eating a guest in the barn, you'll understand.)
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To: proxy_user
"Court records show he's a registered sex offender, convicted for sexually abusing a 10-year-old in Illinois."
28 posted on 08/22/2009 6:48:22 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: Sam's Army

Then it seems surprising he got so little time.


29 posted on 08/22/2009 6:52:34 PM PDT by proxy_user
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To: mathurine

I thought it was hype until they gave his crime. Many sex offenders are no real danger to kids because the definition includes many crimes that had nothing to do with rape, statutory or otherwise. For example, let’s say you streaked in college and got arrested — you’re a sex offender.

A bit of research and I found that the few that live near me were all “Oh crap, she said she was 18” instances. Yet they would be listed along with people who rape 10 year-olds. It kind of dilutes the purpose.


30 posted on 08/22/2009 7:16:53 PM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: Sam's Army
For at least the last decade, in most places I've lived, at least one parent stays with their kids at the stop until the bus arrives -- and meets the bus in the evening to walk the kids home.

You can be assured that, if my kids were involved in the article's situation, I would escort them -- and I would be sure that the scumbag knew that I was heavily armed while doing so. If that required a visit to him for "show 'n' tell", that would be done. Otherwise, if open carry was legal -- he would get an eyeful...

31 posted on 08/22/2009 7:22:37 PM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...!!)
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To: PhiKapMom
I have had at least one child in school since 1986. I have always managed to personally see them get on the bus or taken them to school myself. I can't imagine not doing so. However, I would not appreciate having to spend my morning in front of the home of a child rapist. Not one bit.
32 posted on 08/22/2009 7:40:33 PM PDT by VA40
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To: Sam's Army
ONE SINGLE PARENT out at the stop each day, pickup and delivery, would solve the problem.

Now consider that fully half the sex-offender convictions every year are first-time (U.S. DOJ statistics). Where are the parents?

Home watching TV?

But then again these are the kind of parents who think their children will get a good education at their publik skrewls. The kids will no doubt get a good education at how to don (or don your "partner" with) a condom, but as study upon study shows, they don't get a very good education at much else.

If you are really and truly concerned for your child, you will act that way in an educated intelligent fashion. Ad relying on lists of convicted sex offenders as your only means of defense is neither educated nor intelligent.

There's a technical AND legal term that will apply to many of the children of stupid, ignorant and lazy parents:

Victim.

33 posted on 08/22/2009 8:09:44 PM PDT by Clint Williams (Read Roto-Reuters -- we're the spinmeisters | America -- a great idea, didn't last.)
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To: metmom

I think monsters that rape 10yr old boys ought not to serve any prison time, as soon as the jury says “guilty” they need to be taken out back of the courthouse and given a 12GA cranial enema.


34 posted on 08/22/2009 8:39:09 PM PDT by P8riot (I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.)
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To: Sam's Army

Does the school district have any idea of how liable they will be if anything happens to any of the kids after refusing to move the stop?


35 posted on 08/22/2009 9:12:03 PM PDT by chris_bdba
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To: elli1

We have a bus stop out in front of our house...I watched last year and one woman would drop her kid off at the stop 45 minutes before the bus came every morning on her way to work. He’d walk all over the neighborhood while he waited.

One day there was ice all over the roads and the lady dropped the kid off and they’d canceled school! The bus never came and I noticed the kid out there waiting and told him school was canceled and I guess he walked home because he took off in the direction she always came.

Kid’s maybe 10-11 years old...


36 posted on 08/22/2009 9:24:05 PM PDT by 2Jedismom
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To: VA40

I would be furious if I was a parent even if I took my kids to school. The audacity of the district to tell parents it is up to them. If I was a bus driver, I would refuse to drop kids off at that location and if they didn’t like it, fire me.

I am with you in not wanting to be in front of the home of a child rapist. Who is to say the parent would safe when all the kids were on the bus?


37 posted on 08/22/2009 11:20:51 PM PDT by PhiKapMom (Mary Fallin - OK Gov/Coburn - Senate 2010 ! Take Back the House/Senate! Stop ZERO!)
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To: proxy_user
He was convicted in August 2007 and is already out. Probably public urination or mooning a patrol car.

Guess again.....

His name is Robert Lance Neal. Court records show he's a registered sex offender, convicted for sexually abusing a 10-year-old in Illinois.

38 posted on 08/23/2009 5:26:49 AM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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