Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 14, 1992                   TAG: 9203160150
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE RALEIGH COURT STALKER

The accused "stalker" - a man known to city police, a man with a record of past criminal behavior involving children - has created a climate of fear in the Southwest Roanoke neighborhood. And beyond. Yet police say they can't arrest him for following children, nor end his reign of terror now, because his observed behavior hasn't broken any laws.

The case strikingly underscores the need for a bill, passed recently by the General Assembly, that would enable law-enforcement authorities to move against stalkers. The legislation makes it a specific crime in Virginia for any person to repeatedly engage in conduct "with the intent to cause emotional distress" by putting others "in reasonable fear of death or bodily harm."

Prosecutors, of course, would have to prove that the Raleigh Court stalker fits the bill: that it's his intent to cause emotional distress; that he's causing parents and children to reasonably fear death or physical harm. It's a tough case. But officials say the man's behavior as described, and his past experience with the law, would seem to give grounds for arrest under the statute.

The problem is that the legislation - assuming it's signed by Gov. Wilder - won't go into effect until July 1. The only way to get it on the books sooner is for Wilder to return it to the assembly, when it reconvenes April 15 for the so-called veto session, with an emergency clause that makes it effective as soon as it's re-passed and signed by the governor.

A spokesman said Wilder is considering doing just that. That would be a help, even if it might leave another month without promise of relief from the tensions the stalker is causing.

Fear can carry a heavy psychic toll, adding to the unfairness of this situation. Sure, a man has a right to drive where he pleases. But thousands of residents have a right to allow their children to walk to school or play outside without fearing sinister possibilities. It's a shame what children must learn about our world these days.

This is the second time in a year someone has held such power over Raleigh Court residents. Before it was a burglar who entered homes. Now it is a different sort of threat.

The hope must be that residents in Raleigh Court will not panic, but will continue calmly to band together in efforts to protect the neighborhood's kids. They're on target in demanding that schools and law-enforcement officials keep them better informed when there is any reason to think their children are at risk.

Some may suggest that more attention is being paid to this situation than might otherwise be the case because the neighborhood in question is middle class and more organized than some others. (Raleigh Court also organized in a big way when confronted last year with the rash of burglaries.)

But the suggestion has another implication: that other neighborhoods and other parents might learn from Raleigh Court's experience. At the moment, its stalker is the only one in the headlines. That doesn't mean he's the only one out there. Sad to say, vigilance for children's safety is in order wherever the neighborhood.