Former Teacher In Thailand, An American Is Arrested For Child Sex Tourism

[sriracha john]

Albert Thomas "Tom" Rogers

Tanque Verde Superintendent arrested

The Superintendent of the Tanque Verde Unified School District in Tucson was arrested by federal agents Friday at the U.S.-Mexican border south of Yuma on suspicion that he planned to engage in sexual acts with a boy.

Albert Thomas "Tom" Rogers, who also serves as an associate principal and taught at Emily Gray Junior High School, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the San Luis Port of Entry on suspicion of "travel with intent to engage in sex with a juvenile," a criminal complaint from the U.S. Attorney's Office shows.

Officials say Rogers used an online site — part of an undercover operation — to reserve a tour that was to include sexual acts with a 13- or 14-year-old boy in Mexico, the complaint shows.

Before being hired by the Tanque Verde district in April 2007, Rogers, 51, a native of Missoula, Mont., had worked in schools in Montana, Nevada and Yuma County, and had taught English and computer skills to first- through third-graders while living in Thailand for two years.

If he is convicted on a charge of travel with intent to engage in sex with a juvenile, the maximum statutory penalty is 30 years and/or a $250,000 fine, said Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona.

Rogers had an initial appearance in Yuma on Monday, and his status hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday. He is in U.S. Marshals Service custody pending the status hearing, Hornbuckle said.

On Monday, Tanque Verde Governing Board President Steven Auslander and about 15 other school officials gathered at the district's offices after learning of the arrest. "It's a shock," Auslander said "It's a disappointment. It's almost indescribably painful. Tom has been an exemplary Superintendent, which is what we had all hoped he would be when we interviewed him for this position over two years ago."

Auslander, who has two daughters in schools in the district, said, "This was not the sort of news I wanted today." The board was scheduled to conduct an emergency executive session at the district offices on Monday night "to confer with counsel to determine how best to proceed in providing what assistance we are asked for by the folks conducting the investigation — for ICE and for TPD (Tucson Police Department)."

The board voted to place Rogers on paid leave. "What's on our minds, among other things at this stage of the game, is to ensure that Tom gets his due process in accordance with the law. We don't want to step on his legal rights, and that's a concern along with the operation of the school district," Auslander said.

He said there also is the question of how best to address the concerns of parents. He did not have specifics, but he said the district would hold a meeting for parents.

The criminal complaint outlines a seven-month investigation that began online in December and concluded Friday at the San Luis Port of Entry, south of Yuma.

According to the complaint:

On Dec. 13, 2008, using a screen name of "rawbear," Rogers made contact with undercover federal agents regarding a child-sex tour to Mexico. On Jan. 2, an undercover agent acting as a proprietor of a child-sex tourism business e-mailed Rogers a tour reservation application after he had mentioned he was considering a trip in late February.

On Feb. 9, the undercover agent received a completed, handwritten tour reservation form that listed Rogers' name, address, telephone number and age. He asked for a boy 13 or 14 years old, and he checked "relaxation intimacy" under the preferred activities section. Rogers sent a signed Wells Fargo personal check for $50 with the reservation as a deposit.

On Feb. 16, Rogers e-mailed the undercover agent to notify her that he would have to delay his late-February trip due to issues at work.

On April 13, Rogers contacted the agent again online and requested one night with a boy on June 19-20 in Mexico.

On June 4, Rogers e-mailed the undercover agent that he would be arriving in Yuma on June 19 at 1 p.m. A few days later, Rogers responded to an e-mail from the agent in which he discussed the types of sex acts he would like to perform with the boy. When he arrived to Yuma International Airport on Friday, an undercover agent posing as a driver for the sex-tourism company met him. They traveled by car to the San Luis Port of Entry, where he was arrested as he walked to Mexico.

While all arrests of sexual-predator suspects are important, the apparent violation of public trust makes the arrest of Rogers stand out, said Matt Allen, special agent in charge of ICE investigations in Arizona. "It's a particularly important case whenever we identify individuals who have regular and daily contact with children," Allen said.

Since Immigration and Customs Enforcement started its undercover sex-tourism operation in Yuma in 1997, its agents have arrested 43 suspects, including Rogers.

The investigation is part of Operation Predator, an ongoing agency initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel to foreign nations for sex with minors.

Many people plan trips to other countries to take advantage of looser laws or less focus on child exploitation, Allen said. "We want to make sure that, in this case, the border is a barrier and we protect children throughout the world, and not just in the United States," Allen said.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release said the agency is working with the Tucson Police Department to "determine if Rogers' alleged criminal activity extended to the workplace." "We don't know that it did, but we want to practice due diligence," said Vincent Picard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman.

But Tucson police Officer Charles Rydzak said the department's only involvement in the case was providing tactical support to immigration agents so they could serve search warrants in the area. He was not aware of any investigation of the school district, he said.

Stacey Williams, who has two children in the Tanque Verde Unified School District, said she was shocked by the news. "I'm deeply disappointed, and I certainly hope that our district will terminate him — that they're not going to let him come back," she said. She has met Rogers, and thought he was fine, she said. "He was a little bit different, but nothing too far out of the ordinary. . . . I wouldn't necessarily have thought he was a danger to our children but now I do."

Rogers ran as a Libertarian in a failed bid last November to displace Republican Linda Arzoumanian as the Pima County School Superintendent. He didn't campaign for the job, but said he wanted to ensure that Libertarians — and their message of less government intervention — had a place in the election. His platform included several issues that rarely get support in public-education circles: vouchers for private-school education and deep cuts in federal involvement and spending. More recently, Rogers agreed to lop $15,000 off his $105,000 salary to help the district deal with budget cuts.

Dave Euchner, a public defender who was chairman of the Libertarian Party when Rogers ran for office, said he was "flabbergasted" at the news. "I am surprised, but that's always the reaction in cases like this," he said. "He just struck me as a regular guy, just like anybody else," Euchner said. "We had limited conversations, but he struck me as an intelligent person who cared about his community, and that's why he was running for office."

Before coming to Tucson, Rogers was the Superintendent of Shelby Public Schools in Shelby, Mont. In the 1990s, Rogers was a middle-school principal in Somerton, in Yuma County, and superintendent of the Gadsden Elementary School District in San Luis, Ariz.

- Arizona Daily Star (USA) / 2009-06-23

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KVOA-TV Channel 4 News Videolink:

http://www.kvoa.com/global/video/flash/pop...amp;rnd=7434210

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Community reaction to Superintendent arrest

"It's absolutely appalling. It's unbelievable that somebody in our district would be involved in something like that."

Melinda Bridges can't believe the Superintendent of her daughters school district was arrested for arranging sex with a young boy. "For someone who has that kind of power and authority over our children is caught in some kind of act like that its just unbelievable," Bridges added.

Tom Rogers has been the Superintendent of the Tanque Verde School District for two years, in addition to being the Associate Principal of Emily Gray Junior High, where he also taught a class.

Bridges told KOLD, "You'd be wondering has that gone on before, is that something that's gone on here, is that something parents need to be asking their children about."

All questions about Rogers arrest, the district understands, parents will want answers to soon. "I think the district needs to come clean with every single bit of information," Bridges said.

Steven Auslander is the President of the Tanque Verde School Board. He says district employees were shocked to hear of the charges against Rogers. "The reaction in this room was complete dismay. People were crying, it's shocking beyond description. People just lost it in this room," Auslander said.

Auslander says the district plans on being up front with parents about the investigation. "Letting all the parents know what we know as we know it and figuring out how best to begin to look into anything that may have gone on here, and my hope is that nothing did go on here."

Tucson Police surrounded Rogers' East side home Friday night, we're told, helping immigration agents serve search warrants.

Craig Shocklee lives next door. He says Rogers kept to himself and they rarely saw him out. "If it's true, I hope you know, they get all the evidence they need and they can do what they need to do. And if its not true, I hope they prove it's not true," Shocklee told KOLD.

- KOLD-TV Channel 13 News (Tuscon, Arizona, USA) / 2009-06-23

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[gpdjohn]

I was raised in Yuma and then it was a sleepy little town with a air force base ( now a USMC air station ) and spent weekends in San Luis, MX.

Times have changed I guess. ( or I was too young to notice )

Good catch on this perv!

[sbk]

Ex-educator jailed until trial

The former Gadsden school superintendent arrested on a child sex tour charge will remain in jail until his trial.

Albert Thomas "Tom" Rogers, 51, was ordered detained as a flight risk by U.S. District Judge Edward C. Voss until his trial, slated to begin Aug. 4, court records indicated.

Rogers was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on one count of attempting to travel to Mexico to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. He was arrested June 19 after allegedly attempting to book a sex tour to Mexico that would involve "relaxation intimacy" with a 13- or 14-year-old boy.

Rogers had served as the Gadsden Elementary School District superintendent about 10 years ago. He was superintendent for six years before quitting in 1999, saying that he was planning to move to Thailand, according to a Yuma Sun article published at that time.

He also served as the San Luis Middle School principal and on both the Yuma Union High School District and Somerton school district governing boards. A 1994 Yuma Sun profile on Rogers said he had also worked at one time or other as a school custodian, school bus driver, sports coach, teacher and school cafeteria volunteer.

At the time of his arrest, Rogers was the Tanque Verde Unified School District Superintendent in Tucson. He resigned from that post Tuesday after being placed on administrative leave.

Rogers was arrested June 19 at the U.S. Port of Entry in San Luis, after being driven there by an undercover officer. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), he tried to book a sex tour to Mexico for the night of June 19 to the 20, which would include sexual contact with a 13- or 14-year-old boy.

Cited in the criminal complaint, Rogers allegedly contacted the undercover officer in January, eventually booking the tour for June 19.

If convicted, Rogers could face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.

Vincent Picard, spokesman for ICE, said this is Rogers' first suspicion of involvement with child sex tourism, and that since ICE launched its Operation Predator undercover campaign in Yuma in 1997, they have arrested 43 other people on similar suspicions

- Yuma Sun (USA) / 2009-06-26

http://www.yumasun.com/news/rogers-51053-s...l-district.html

[soundman]

Courtesy of SriRatcha John:

News Audio-Link to Court Hearing of prosecutor's and judge's remarks concerning the details of this case and the defendant's living in Thailand and subsequent return visits to Thailand.

As per News Source:

"Warning: mature content"

- Arizona Daily Star / 2009-07-06

http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/mediaskins/main.php?id=2223