A 19-year-old man taking a shortcut home through the playground at Riverbend Elementary School during school hours caused alarm and confusion on school grounds Wednesday afternoon, police say.
Riverbend school officials originally called the Juneau Police Department around 1 p.m. Wednesday to report kids said “a strange man” had tried to grab a third-grade girl on the playground, Juneau Police Department Sgt. Dave Campbell said. A police investigation later determined there was no kidnapping, abduction, attempted abduction, or any variation thereof.
Police arrived on scene within minutes, and learned all the children were accounted for. When interviewed by a JPD school resource officer, the kids said a white man in his 20s with a goatee and a long dark trench coat had walked through the back playground area of the school. The man didn’t say anything to the children, but gave them a scare when he walked about four feet away from a third-grade girl, Campbell said.
“I think that it’s mainly the fact that this guy is kind of scary looking, especially if you’re an 8- or 9-year-old girl,” Campbell said in a phone interview Wednesday around 5 p.m.
The man then jumped a fence and walked towards the Riverbend Housing Development complex near Safeway, the kids reported to police.
Based on the description of the man and his clothing, police were able to identify him within an hour and a half. A school employee guessed he was probably a high school student. JPD called Thunder Mountain High School, and a school official there had an idea of who matched the description. They ended up being right, and police confirmed the identity of the man when they went to talk to him about the incident at his residence at Riverbend.
Campbell said the teen confirmed he had taken a shortcut through the elementary school to his house, denied doing anything inappropriate, and agreed not cut through the school again, but to use the sidewalk.
The 19-year-old should not have been on school grounds during school hours, as posted signs indicated, but a crime wasn’t committed, Campbell said. The man’s name was withheld because he was not charged with a crime.
The parents of the third-grade girl were contacted and declined to pursue any charges, Campbell said.
School officials could not be reached Wednesday evening after 5 p.m.
The incident has been chalked up as a misunderstanding, although the elementary school students and school officials did exactly the right thing by calling police, Campbell said.
“It’s good that the students were able to recognize that if something was making them uncomfortable that they would report it. ... I’m happy that the kids recognize it, and they’re applying their ‘stranger danger’ classes.”
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (21)
Add commentStranger Danger
Does anyone else find the whole "Stranger Danger" thing to be a bit over-reactive and paranoid? The chances of a stranger molesting your kid out on the playground are probably one in a million. They are WAY more likely to be molested by another kid, or by your father-in-law or uncle at home. They are also way more likely to get hurt in a play-ground accident, or hit by a car or something. All we are really accomplishing is to create an atmosphere of distrust in our community with this "Stranger-Danger" type training. If you look at the statistics, it's just really not worth worrying about. There are dozens of other more dangerous things out there, for example- dogs. Do we have a "dog danger" program for children? The reason is because the idea of a child being molested by some stranger is so much more creepy than all those other statistically more likely dangers so that is what we focus on because of how creepy it is, not the facts.
to socrates
you must not have children...
Socrates has a point and to a
Socrates has a point and to a degree I am in agreement. However, due to some incidents that have occurred in this country over the past few years, schools a required to remain in a constant state of alert. Most of the strangers that one encounters in a lifetime will prove to be harmless--even the mean-looking ones. Nevertheless, the possibility of danger is ever present--check out the sex offender registry if you don't believe me.
Like Socrates said....
a bit over-reactive and paranoid....
Good thing you have a relative on the swat team eh?
Happens every day
People cut through that area every day. This poor guy just had bad timing cutting through there during recess.
Dogs are strangers too
I teach my kids dogs are strangers too. I think kids can be taught to 'practice' stranger danger without having to take it too far. I mean, not many people are going to end up in an situation as extreme as being molested, but it could happen. Even though the odds were 1 in a million I'd rather not play these particular odds. I'm glad it worked out in the end. I hope everyone is okay.
@ Socreat,ima49er &Orionsbow1,
I respectfully would like to point out that just because this young man meant no harm is not the issue. This issue is about protecting our children from perceived bad intent and be proactive in protecting our children and error on the side of our children safety.
As you stated so well Socreat the incidences of a stranger abduction is very slim, but just because this man was a stranger to these children does not mean he is not known to another child as someone in their life that may be ( embroiled in a child custody case,a mentally ill male member of the child's life, or an abuser that is injecting themselves into a child's life.) just to name a few of the dynamics of the mind set of someone who has the potential do interpretable damage to a young soul.
Stranger or familiar this kind of pain is something no child needs to carry with them into their adult lives.
My point being, statistically you are correct as it is more than likely that an abuser is not only known to their victim but are familial to the child. In either case it still boils down to children's ability to be aware of who is around them and listen to their instincts and be empowered to feel they have the tools to get help when something does not feel right.
The school grounds are marked so as too reminds people that this is a safety zone for children.
If a person does not wish to have the inconvenience of being followed up on as a reported stranger in a school grounds than please make the reasonable and self responsible decision, to not go on the grounds making this a none issue. Not for just yourselves but more importantly for the children not to have had to have the stress of this decision.
On the up side it did give the children great practice in what they have been taught about utilizing the system that has been put in place.
Thank you JPD for only taking 1 1/2 hours to find the person who made a careless choice. I can only hope that no one had to wait for services or resources while this preventible matter was being resolved.
At least
He is, at least trying to finish school. Good for him!
Some of you need to refresh your memories. Remember "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything"?
The world needs more nice, there is already more than enough snarky crap to go around.
Never talk to strangers!
I was walking up from a trout stream in Arizona when I heard my daughter screaming. When I got to our camp I found out that the ranger was checking camps and garbage lock-ups. When the kids asked who that man in the uniform was, their mother told them it was the Forest Ranger. That set my daughter off as she ran screaming "Never talk to strangers!".
So, make sure your kids beware of the Forest Stranger!
Mori88
I couldn't agree more!
Snarky?
A 19 year old guy in a trench coat, ignoring clearly posted signs, jumps a fence into an elementary school playground while kids are at recess, to take a shortcut. And I'm being snarky?
The guy showed incredibly poor judgment, and a common disregard for posted rules. Frankly, he should have been cited.
I do agree with the comments about over-reaction, but at the same time, should we just take the fences down and let any strangers mingle with the children on the playground?
Glad he's finishing high school, but I'm afraid he still has a lot to learn.
And you really gotta watch out...
...for the dreaded Park Stranger!
Latitude58:
Just because he decided to take a shortcut doesn't change the fact that you were, indeed, being snarky. Let's all judge someone for being a year older in high school, yeah? No. Snark at it's finest.
Interesting ...
Interesting ...
Trespass
Get the guy for trespassing. There is a large contingent of people in this town with no respect for private property. In my neighborhood, like many others, fences are always being trampled and guys like this, dark trench coats or hoodies, come waltzing past your house and windows with no regard for your property rights. All because they don't want the extra walk. Should have written him up.
cliche
I know this may sound Cliché, but, when it comes to the safety of our children, my personal opinion is that it's always best to be safe than sorry, I'm glad the kids recognized that there was someone on school grounds that should not be there and informed the school employees right away. Good job kids, way to be alert, responsive and looking out for your fellow students!
19 and still in high school...
Latitude58 - There are a lot of reasons a student could be 19 and still in high school.
One of the kids I knew in high school was enrolled in KG a year late by his dad in hopes he'd have a better chance at a collegiate sports scholarship.
Half the gifted/talented students from my grade school G/T class graduated in five years.
Personally, I dealt with medical issues and personal problems that set me back a year. Didn't stop me from getting a 30 on the ACT and graduating college with honors.
There can be a lot of reasons for a 19 year old to still be in high school that have nothing to do with being too dumb to read signs. I just hope he didn't come out of that incident thinking "Why do I put up with this crap?"
@RJ: I think you have a
@RJ: I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what statistics are. Statistics are compilations of a number of events, and reflect the occurrence of a particular outcome. They are used, in practice, to predict the future likelihood of certain outcomes.
Socrates' point is that while you people quiver in fear over extremely unlikely events, you are blissfully unaware of much more common ones. Your child is much more likely to be molested by a family member or someone close to the family than by a stranger. The same is true of rape and assault.
The bottom line is you can't protect your child from everything. You can reduce the likelihood of certain things happening by educating your child about the dangers they may face, particularly the more common dangers.
@RJ
RJ ... are you saying the police choose not to do their job when someone was attempting a kidnap?
Are the girl's parents going to press charges for attempted kidnap?
RJ, if what you say is true
RJ, if what you say is true then why didn't the girl's parents press charges? Especially if he tried to grab her before? That just doesn't add up.
Don't believe...
...every thing you read in the newspaper. Even if the reporter relayed the information accurately, it may have been skewed information (i.e. the events of Dec. 26.). JPD can talk out of both sides of their mouths. They will tell a victim one thing and tell the Empire the exact opposite. And any one can post skewed information on a blog and get away with it. Of course you can tell the truth here and have your post removed (i.e. the news release on Dec. 27.).