Police Say Sex Offender, 29, Posed as a Boy

4 Charged in Scheme in Which Convict Allegedly Trolled Arizona Charter Schools

CHINO VALLEY, Ariz., Jan. 26 -- A 29-year-old convicted sex offender pretending to be a 12-year-old boy attended at least four Arizona charter schools in the past 17 months, forcing parents, teachers and police to scramble across a wide swath of the state to locate children who may have been preyed upon.

Neil Havens Rodreick II, who disguised himself as a boy by shaving his body hair, wearing pancake makeup and dressing as a preteen, used forged documents and accomplices who acted as adult guardians to gain entree into the publicly funded charter schools, authorities said. The indictments of him and his three roommates have stunned central Arizona.

"What is really shocking here is that four men were living in rural Arizona in a sex ring, and they targeted a small rural charter school by having one of their members pose as a child," said Rebecca Ruffner, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, a Prescott-based statewide advocacy group for children.

With about 475 charter schools, Arizona is a leader in the movement toward the publicly funded independent schools.

"Because charter schools are smaller and more grass-roots, they may be perceived by predators as easy marks," Ruffner said.

State education officials will meet Monday to investigate the incidents and question whether Arizona's charter schools may require more oversight, said Amy Rezzonico, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Education.

On Friday, Rodreick and two roommates, Robert James Snow, 44, and Brian Jay Nellis, 34, were indicted by a Yavapai County grand jury on multiple felony charges, including child pornography, forgery and failure to register as sex offenders. A fourth roommate, Lonnie Eugene Stiffler, 61, was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, fraud, attempted child molestation, attempted sexual conduct with a minor and forgery. If convicted on all counts, each man could face 100 years in prison.

The four men refused requests for interviews.

Local media have reported that Rodreick had a video of himself having sex with a child; Yavapai County sheriff's officials declined to comment on that.

Court records spell out a cunning and complicated ruse. Rodreick is thought to have duped Stiffler and Snow into thinking he was 12 so they would act as guardians and help him enroll at the schools.

In Oklahoma in 1996, Rodreick was convicted of making indecent proposals to a child and was sentenced to prison, according to court records. His cellmate was Nellis, also convicted of sex crimes against children, the records say.

Sometime after his release from prison, Rodreick contacted Stiffler and Snow over the Internet. He pretended to be 12 in the online messages, which included child pornography, court records say.