Library Procedures Questioned After Sex Offense
Staff -- Library Journal, 2/26/2001
A paroled sex offender was charged with sexually assaulting a 4-year-old boy in the St. Joseph County Public Library, South Bend, IN, leading to some controversy over whether the library had responded properly to previous incidents. The local South Bend Tribune initially stated erroneously that library officials failed to notify police after two previous incidents in which the man approached children. However, Library Director Donald Napoli told the paper that the library did contact police after the second incident. In both, the man asked small boys if they could keep a secret -- and the boys ran away. The first incident, he said, was only a remark, with no threat, and was not part of a pattern.
