Registered Sex Offender Poses as a 7th Grade Student for 50 Days

ARIZONA (AC) - According to officials in Arizona, Neil Rodreick, a 29-year-old convicted sex offender, posed as a 12-year-old seventh grade student named 'Casey Price' at Rosefield Charter School for 50 days before anyone took notice of something suspicious.

Rodreick was described by teachers and staff to be a quiet student who did well on his homework, ate lunch with other students, walked in the halls with them, and who had no disciplinary or behavioral problems.

Staff members at the Arizona charter school finally called police to investigate a suspicious 'older-looking' student. To their surprise and embarrassment, and to the shock and outrage of parents, Neil Rodreick was discovered at the school, blending in amongst the students.

The public anger and outrage at this turn of events has lead many to ask how a 29-year-old grown man could pose as a student, much less as a pre teen boy and no one would notice or suspect. According to various news reports, Rodreick used a variety of techniques to disguise his age, including use of make up and shaving all his body hair.

January 23, counselors were sent to the school to talk to students who may have been traumatized to learn that someone they thought was a fellow classmate was actually an adult sex offender. Additionally, counselors and law enforcement are trying to determine if any of the students at the school were victimized by Rodreick during the 50 days he attended classes.

Unfortunately, it seems this was not the first time Rodreick has posed as a child. Rodreick was caught attempting to enroll in a middle school in Chino Valley, and it was later discovered he had successfully enrolled in two other Arizona middle schools as well. Whether Rodreick actually attended those other schools has not yet been determined.

Law enforcement deputies discovered Rodreick was living with 61 year old Lonnie Stiffler, who posed as Rodreick's grandfather. Another roommate, Robert Snow, also lived with Rodreick and Stiffler. Rodreick has been reported to have been sexually involved with both men, and it is believed both men thought Rodreick to be a 12 year old boy, having met him on the internet approximately two years before this incident. Both men were quoted by law enforcement officers as stating they were upset to learn they had been having sex with a grown man and not a 12-year-old boy.

According to CNN.Com, a total of four men, Rodreick, 29; Stiffler, 61; Snow, 43; and Brian Nellis, 34 were in custody on Friday facing various charges such as: fraud, forgery, identity theft, and failure to register as a sex offender, among other charges that are still pending. (Retrieved January 24, 2007 from: www.CNN.com)

According to law enforcement, Nellis was Rodreick's cell mate in prison in Oklahoma, where both were serving time for sex offenses.

At this time, investigators are unclear of what were the motives for Rodreick enrolling in school, whether the school was required as part of his ruse to fool Snow and Stiffler about his age, or whether he was enrolled in school in order to get close to the other children and lure them into sexual acts with Rodreick and his roommates. The fact Rodreick was also enrolled in other schools leads investigators to believe this was an attempt to victimize children.

This week, officials and counselors will be investigating the other schools where Rodreick had been registered to determine if he actually attended classes at those campuses and whether children in those schools have been victimized while the same investigation at Rosefield Charter continues.