Student story effects sex offender arrest

Photo:

Rodney A. Heath

Photo: Julie DiFazio

SEX OFFENDER — Rodney Heath, registered sex offender and, according to officials, a violent repeat offender, is seen center, white tee-shirt and cap, surrounded by students and volunteers in the photograph that caught his parole officer's eye and resulted in his arrest.

OXFORD HILLS — A simple, "feel-good" story by a group of high school journalism students has resulted in the arrest and revocation of parole for an area sex offender.

Thinking that a recent river cleanup involving area students would be good story material, two Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School students – Chelsea Rugg and Julie Difazio – armed with notepad and camera, signed on with Oxford Hills SkillsUSA members, technical program staff and high school staff and headed to Lovewell Pond in Fryeburg.

Little did they know that two weeks later, a lifetime registered sex offender who had no business being anywhere near the group, would be arrested and charged with Prohibited Contact With a Minor.

But that is just what happened Thursday night. Rodney Alan Heath, 38, of Gore Road in Otisfield, was picked up by Oxford County Sheriff's Lt./Det. Brian Landis after a two-week investigation.

Heath is on probation for Gross Sexual Assault. He is, according to officials, particularly violent. He has, in the past, targeted children. As a registered sex offender, he is not allowed to initiate direct or indirect contact with another person who has not attained 14 years of age, and a specific probation restriction that prohibits contact with children under the age of 18 (excluding family members with adult supervision).

And yet, there he was on page 5A of the September 27 issue of the Advertiser Democrat. In one photo Heath is front and center, surrounded by young people. In the other, he sits behind a young girls paddling a canoe on the river.

Two weeks ago, Heath's parole officer Wayne Sturdivant picked up his copy of the Advertiser, sipped some coffee while flipping through the pages and saw a familiar face.

Quickly he contacted criminal investigator Lt./Det. Brian Landis and Det. Tom Harriman of the Criminal Investigation Division who, in turn, got together with School Resource Officer Sgt. Hartley Mowatt and an investigation was launched.

Heath is a repeat offender with a history of violence and is somewhat slippery. He uses pseudonyms such as Rodney Smith, Rodney Shackley and "Uncle Rod."

"Uncle Rod" is what he told the girls, on the river clean-up, to call him.

Power of the press

So what do the three young journalists think about the aftermath of their story?

"I was surprised," said Rugg. "Although he was a little weird, he seemed a little off."

Once they had focused on the journalism and not the individual, Rugg noted thoughtfully, "no one would have known if the photo had not run."

Difazio, who was a journalism student last year and went on the trip to keep Rugg company, said "It's not every day you do something that catches bad guys."

"You do something good ... and something else comes out of it," Rugg adds.

Meredith Potter, the third journalism student, didn't go on the trip but helped write the story with Rugg and Difazio.

"I was just writing," she said, "doing something that I love, and it turned out we stopped something."

"By snapping a picture," Potter continued, "we stopped something that could have been a much worse situation."

"It's kinda cool," added Rugg. "I was into it at the beginning [of the class] but the writing was different – you have to have this and this and this – but now, I don't know, you never know, you might help the community by doing this [journalism]."

Difazio, who took the class last year, had decided she wasn't all that interested in journalism but noted it felt a bit different now. But, she added, "it's kinda creepy."

"Something bad could have happened," she continued, "but we stopped it from happening."

Journalism teacher Pamela Chodosh talked with the class after they learned about the investigation and subsequent arrest.

"We discussed how anytime you are in direct contact with the world, there is risk," she said. "A journalist, though, cannot shy away from real life situations."

"Though my students are not ready to follow up on this kind of story," she clarified, "they certainly can learn to pay attention to small details that sometimes just don't make sense. In this case, the man's reluctance to give his full name was a little peculiar.

"A journalist does not have to be suspicious. She or he just has to be curious. That is how a journalist finds a story."

"I think the first thing you look for is a story that's going to impact something," said Potter.

"I mean if we hadn't done a story on it, who knows what could have happened," Rugg concluded.

The detectives agree.

The excitement in the air is palpable as Landis and Sturdivant talk about seeing the photo and the ensuing investigation. The catalyst for their excitement is the oft repeated "we got him before he could get another victim."