Neil Havens Rodreick

Neil Havens Rodreick (born in Phoenix, Arizona, 1978) is a convicted sex offender. A pedophile, he spent seven years in an Oklahoma jail after being convicted of lewdly propositioning a six-year-old boy in 1996. After being released from prison, he began posing as 12-year-old Casey Price, and successfully enrolled in a series of Arizona schools. The 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) man was eventually expelled from Imagine Charter School for poor attendance in 2006. Shortly afterwards, he was arrested after arousing suspicion while trying to enroll in Mingus Springs charter school. He and three other men have since been charged with crimes ranging from fraud to child molestation.

Criminal history

Rodreick met one of his co-defendants in the current case, Brian Nellis, while in U.S. Army Basic Training. Several years later, Rodreick was convicted of a lewd and indecent proposal to a minor in Oklahoma in 1996, and stayed in prison there until 2002 with Nellis as a cellmate.

He has now agreed to a 70.5 year prison sentence in exchange for a guilty plea.

Time in Arizona

After getting out of jail, Rodreick connected with Robert Snow and Lonnie Stiffler in an online chat room. Rodreick convinced the men that his name was "Casey Price" and started an ongoing sexual relationship. Snow and Stiffler travelled to Oklahoma, where they picked up Rodreick and brought him back to Arizona. Upon their arrest, it is reported that Snow and Stiffler were outraged that Rodreick was not in fact an underage boy.

Schools attended

Rodreick attended Imagine School in Surprise, Arizona, from August to November 2006, spending 50 days in class. A school spokewoman claims that Rodreick "was quiet" and "kept to himself most of the time and appeared to be a good student. He did his homework and turned it in." Rodreick was automatically withdrawn in November for poor attendance. Although police have speculated that Rodreick may have attended in order to gain access to and trust of young children, police have yet to find any evidence of any misconduct in his time there.

Rodreick had tried to avoid suspicion by shaving his body hair and wearing makeup. When he attempted to enroll in Mingus Springs Charter School, however, his ruse fell through. Stiffler, posing as Rodreick's grandfather, brought a supposed birth certificate from the Federal Republic of Germany as identification for his "grandson." The birth certificate listed Rodreick's birth weight in pounds, not kilograms. School officials found different spellings of his first name and even different birthdates, and called the police.

Current case

Rodreick is currently being held in a Prescott jail on charges of fraud, forgery, identity theft, and failure to register as a sex offender. Rodreick is also being held for a misdemeanor assault on a young girl. While searching the home in which Rodreick was living, police also found a tape of him engaged in sexual activity with a young boy.

Rodreick is currently being represented by a publicly appointed attorney, Steven J.A. August, whose office is located in Flagstaff. The case has attracted national attention from the likes of Phil McGraw, "Time", and the "New York Times".

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2004405,00.html The 29-year-old paedophile who turned himself into a 12-year-old schoolboy]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-20-sex-offender-ruse_x.htm Adult Sex Offender Thwarted by Arizona School]