Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 21, 1994 TAG: 9406220139
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RUSTBURG LENGTH: Medium
Rustburg residents said they were shocked when Campbell County police charged a Mecklenburg County man in April with three counts of misdemeanor trespassing after school officials said he entered J.J. Fray Elementary School without permission.
When police searched his car, they reportedly found pornography, weapons, rope and sexual paraphernalia.
Parents of local schoolchildren have launched a petition drive, seeking support for a law that would invoke tougher sanctions for trespassers on school grounds who have Mace, pornography or weapons with them.
Vicki Campbell, who has children at Rustburg Middle School and a toddler who will attend J.J. Fray soon, said the goal is simple.
``I told my husband, if it saved one child and helped keep them safe, it'd be worth it,'' she said. ``It feels good to say we have a say in our government. It's sad we even need a law like that.''
Campbell's sister, Irene Shupe, has a child at J.J. Fray and is head of a new school safety committee that began the petition drive a week ago.
So far, Shupe said, she has seen a powerful response locally, as petitions at lunch tables and corner stores fill up with signatures.
``I'm giving them to anybody who'll take them,'' she said.
Shupe said she also sent home a letter for parents, seeking help for the petition drive and suggestions on school safety. The response, however, has been scattered, she said.
J.J. Fray parents have peppered school and law enforcement officials with questions about the arrest of William Mosny, 64, and said they were upset that he could not be charged with anything more serious than misdemeanor trespassing.
In the words of the petition, the group is seeking a law that would allow some trespassers to ``be prosecuted for intent to do harm.''
Shupe said the drive - which grew directly out of the J.J. Fray incident - is an attempt to prevent kidnappings, sexual abuse and other crimes.
``It seems like people have to kill someone 15 or 20 times before they get anything out of it - before they get caught,'' she said.
Creating a law would require action by the General Assembly, but the petition group may already have a leg up.
When representatives called Del. Joyce Crouch, R-Lynchburg, they found she already was considering the same idea.
Crouch said she started mulling over the prospect when she heard about the Mosny case, and she encouraged the parents to pursue the petition drive.
While the intent behind the law is simple, she said, actually drafting the proposal won't be so easy. ``It is, I think, going to be a tricky piece of legislation,'' she said.
There is some precedent. Possession of a firearm on school grounds is a felony, and another legislator has been working on a similar law dealing with possession of knives at school.
Crouch said it will take a lot of research to figure out how to write the law so it is enforceable and doesn't infringe on the rights of students, parents and other people who use school property.
Work on the proposal - which could include discussions with local prosecutors and police as well as school officials and parents - will begin soon, she said.
Crouch said she may be ready to submit the bill in the 1995 legislative session.
In the meantime, local parents say they're sending their petitions all over Virginia in search of support. Their own deadline for the signature drive is Aug. 1.
No matter when the proposal makes it to the General Assembly, it will be too late to have any impact on the Mosny case.
Shupe said she accepts that, but she is still upset over the incident that prompted his arrest.
Plenty of other people think the same way, Campbell said. ``Everyone I've talked to - even though they don't have children - they're all concerned about it,'' she said.
Or, as Shupe put it, ``If [Mosny] was to walk into that school, he wouldn't walk back out.''
by CNB