DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190541

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   90 lines

VIRGINIA [BRIEFS]

Central

Commission urged to toughen laws

for sex, hate crimes

RICHMOND - A man who sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl in a church office and later molested his own 4-year-old granddaughter served less than a year in prison before quietly moving back into his old neighborhood.

Nobody notified residents that a convicted child molester was in their midst - information the older victim's mother says should have been available so parents could protect their children.

``We just want others to know who to avoid when it comes to the safety of our precious children,'' the 45-year-old New Kent County woman told the State Crime Commission Tuesday. The woman testified at a hearing on the panel's proposed version of Megan's Law, which would require residents to be notified when a convicted sex offender moves into their neighborhood.

The Crime Commission is considering a two-tiered system, based on criminal history, for spreading word about the release of convicted sex offenders.

An offender who used threats against a victim within the past five years would be classified as a low risk. Release of such an offender would trigger notification of local police departments, but no one else. Local schools, child-care centers, domestic violence shelters and scouting programs would be told when a more serious sex offender is released, and they would be free to tell anyone else.

The commission's recommendation will go the General Assembly, which convenes in January.

Judge fines woman $250

for piercing fawn's ear

HARRISONBURG - A woman was ordered to pay a $250 veterinary bill Tuesday for picking up a fawn by the roadside and piercing its ears, but an animal cruelty charge was suspended after she insisted she meant no harm.

Bettie Phillips, 54, of Hiddenite, N.C., found the deer along a highway in western Virginia on July 3 as she drove to visit her daughter in Harrisonburg.

Later that day, she and her daughter pierced its ears by hand by pushing the posts of two small cross-shaped earrings through the thin flesh of the deer's ears about 1/2 inch from their tips.

Police officers found the 2-month-old deer in the back of Phillips' Ford Explorer on July 5 while the two women were shopping in Harrisonburg.

The deer was slightly dehydrated, and its ears were inflamed and infected, said Ned Gentz, chief veterinarian at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. The animal was treated at the center with antibiotics, and on Aug. 20 was released into the wild with six other orphan fawns.

On Tuesday, Phillips and her daughter, Gerry Rae Beckner, 33, pleaded guilty to transporting wildlife without a valid permit.

Judge William Heatwold ordered Phillips to pay $250 in restitution to the Wildlife Center and ordered Beckner to do 20 hours of community service. The charge of cruelty to animals will be dismissed against each of them in six months if they stay out of trouble and follow the judge's orders.

NORTHERN

Charges dropped for nurse

in aloe vera death probe

MANASSAS - A doctor's aide who helped administer unorthodox and possibly fatal aloe vera treatments to dying cancer patients went free when a judge dropped charges against him for lack of evidence.

Ronald Ragan Sheetz worked for Dr. Donald MacNay, an orthopedic surgeon under investigation in the deaths of three patients. MacNay charged $12,000 up front for intravenous aloe vera treatments that are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

MacNay's medical license was suspended last month, and a criminal investigation is continuing.

Sheetz, 41, was charged with practicing nursing without a license and obtaining drugs by fraud. Sheetz has no medical training and began working for MacNay as a volunteer after being a patient.

Prosecutor Paul Ebert said Sheetz performed invasive procedures, such as administering an IV, that require a nursing license. Sheetz' lawyer, Mark Newman, agreed Sheetz had no nursing license. But Newman said the duties that Sheetz performed in MacNay's office did not include anything that violated the law.

Prince William General District Judge Charles F. Sievers agreed.

``What tells me a nurse has to do this invasive procedure?'' the judge asked Ebert before dismissing both charges.

COMING UP

Today

RICHMOND - Virginia Commonwealth University students rally to oppose state Council of Higher Education's rejection of a proposed African-American Studies major at VCU.

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