ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603180118
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FAIRFAX
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Responding to parents' fears, school officials have taken the unusual step of moving a bus stop away from in front of a convicted child sex offender's home.
Fairfax County school officials said they made the decision after a parent reported seeing Dean William Conover, 40, parked in front of a neighborhood elementary school on March 7, watching children as they left for home.
Several parents also told school authorities that Conover has stood on his lawn watching children wait at the bus stop.
No one has accused Conover of approaching children. But news of his criminal record alarmed some parents, who began making phone calls to other parents, school officials and police. The woman who first notified authorities said she recognized Conover because she went to high school with him.
Because of the reports, dozens of residents this week have been driving their children to Westgate Elementary, the school where Conover was reported to have parked, and to Kilmer Middle School, which is served by the bus stop near his house.
Conover has been found guilty of sex crimes three times since 1984. He's been convicted of aggravated sexual battery on a male child under age 13, sexual battery and taking indecent liberties with a minor.
Conover, who lives with his parents, did not return phone calls. His parents said he has not bothered neighborhood children, and they expressed surprise at school officials' concern.
``He's not hanging around any school,'' said his father, John Conover.
Fairfax School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane said he could not recall another case in which a school bus stop has been moved to allay parents' fears about a convicted criminal. But Spillane said he was prepared to go even further if there are more reports of Conover's parking near a school.
``I will assign a security officer full-time,'' he said.
School officials said they would move the bus stop a half-block away, near a crossing-guard station.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB