The arrest came after a grandfather confronted John A. Rosa, 59, of Lexington, Mass., after he raised suspicions by parking in the West Bath Elementary School parking lot Thursday morning.
Chief Deputy Brett Strout said that the grandfather of a student at West Bath Elementary School saw a man parked in the school parking lot at approximately 8:30 a.m. Because the car was parked in a strange position as children were arriving at school, the grandfather grew suspicious and confronted the man, whose answers only increased his suspicion. He called the sheriff’s department at 8:35 a.m. to report the suspicious man.
Deputy Steve Thibeault, who was nearby at West Bath District Court, responded to the school but didn’t find the man there, so he returned to court, where he located Rosa in his car.
According to Strout, Rosa is a registered sex offender who is out on parole from Massachusetts. Thibeault interviewed Rosa and ascertained that Rosa had parked in the school parking lot.
Because communications officer Matt Fournier was able to quickly locate Rosa’s probation officer and obtain correct information regarding Rosa’s prior offenses, Thibeault detained Rosa, who was wearing an ankle bracelet. The Massachusetts parole officer obtained an immediate warrant of arrest for Rosa.
“Because Rosa has a significant history of indecent assault and battery on children under 14 years of age, was on school property while elementary-aged school children were going to school, and has passed flashing yellow school zone warning lights in the process or arriving at the schoolyard, Rosa was arrested as a fugitive from justice and is being arraigned today,” a sheriff’s department release states.
The ankle bracelet Rosa was wearing allows law enforcement not only to track Rosa’s whereabouts but to determine how long he was at the elementary school, according to Strout. He said Rosa would be extradited to Massachusetts.
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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