Sex offender pretends to be 12 years old; enrolls into seventh grade

January 25, 2007

A man in Arizona is accused of pretending to be 12 years old, by using make-up to disguise his age, and then enrolling himself into 7th grade classes around the state, in at least two middle schools. The man is also being accused of assaulting a girl, but the name of the girl is not known. Police will not release details about the assault.

Neil Havens Rodreick II, 29, is a convicted sex-offender who is from Oklahoma and police arrested Rodreick when he attempted to enroll into Mingus Springs Charter School located in Chino Valley, Arizona using what school officials thought to be fake documents. Rodreick spent nearly the whole day at the school. Rodreick also attended another charter school from August 14 to November of 2006, Imagine School at Rosefield. Rodreick attended a total of 50 days at Imagine before he was dismissed from the school for not attending class enough. Rodreick is currently being held inside the Yavapai County jail.

"Our first priority is to help our students and our families establish a sense of security on our campus," said a spokeswoman for the Imagine school, Rhonda Cagle.

Cagle also describes Rodreick as being "quiet."

"He was quiet. He turned in his homework. By most accounts he was aloof and kept to himself," added Cagle.

Rodreick attempted to use fake admissions documents and a fake birth certificate to enroll into the charter school. Authorities are charging Rodreick with misdemeanor assault, failure to register as a sex offender in Arizona, possessing forgery devices, conspiracy to commit forgery, and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Rodreick also tried to enroll into the school using a false name, "Casey Price."

Police are also saying that Rodreick fooled two other men into believing he was 12 years old.

Lonnie Stiffler, 61 and Robert James Snow, 43, were Rodreick's housemates in Arizona and met Rodreick on the internet in Oklahoma. Both Stiffler and Snow were under the impression that Rodreick was a "preteen," according to police, and that all three men were in a continuing relationship that included sex.

Another man, Brian J. Nellis, 34, was also arrested by police at Rodreick's home. Police say Nellis followed the three other men from Oklahoma to Arizona. All men were arrested on January 18, 2007.

All four men are being charged with fraud and forgery, but Nellis, Snow and Rodreick will be charged with failure for registering as sex offenders.

Police also discovered a video at the home, that shows Rodreick having sex with what appears to be an underage child. Police do not know who the child is, or how old he is, but that he is a "juvenile."

Rodreick was convicted in 1996 for lewdly propositioning to a 6-year-old boy.