Richmond County Schools officials confirmed they were unaware a man who visited the campus of Rohanen Middle School last month to solicit donations from students and faculty is registered as a sex offender in South Carolina.

A sex offender coming onto school grounds without notifying officials of his status is also a violation of state law.

The offender, David Waters, is a co-founder of Water’s Edge Ministries. He visited Rohanen to share his experiences working as a missionary in the West African nation of Ghana. The program was featured in Friday’s Daily Journal.

His wife, Anita Tarlton, is a recently retired Richmond Senior High teacher who is also a co-founder of the ministry.

Rohanen teachers said she accompanied Waters when he spoke with the children on Nov. 18, then she returned on the following day to speak with students.

On the 19th, she was accompanied by a man who identified himself as Sam Yates, and a representative of the Daily Journal was present to write an article about the visit.

Waters and Tarlton solicited contributions for a fund to purchase water filtration systems to be used in Ghana from the students and teachers during the visits.

A handout given to the students by Waters showed the inner-workings of a water filtration system, and gave a price of $2,500 for the device.

In a statement Tuesday, the schools said Waters will no longer be allowed on school grounds in the county.

The statement explained Tarlton was invited to speak to the seventh grade on both Thursday and Friday of the week, and Waters accompanied her during the Thursday visit.

“It has come to the attention of RCS that Waters is a registered sex offender in South Carolina,” the statement reads.

The statement said Tarlton was invited to speak after teachers learned of her missionary work in Africa.

“Student groups listened to the presentation in the media center, and several teachers were with them during the presentation,” it reads.

“We take great care in making sure that individuals who come to volunteer in our schools are not with children unsupervised,” RCS Superintendent Dr. George Norris said. “Our principal confirmed that Waters spoke to the students in a large group and was at no point was alone with students during his visit.”

RCS Public Information Officer Ashley Simmons confirmed Norris and Rohanen Middle Principal Pam Francisco decided school employees and students would not be allowed to participate in fundraising activities for the ministry.

“The project has been taken off the table,” she said.

RCS policy only allows students, voters or parents or guardians of students who are required to register as a sex offender to be allowed on school grounds.

Even then, each visit must be authorized by the principal of the school and supervised by school personnel.

School officials said they were not notified of Water’s status as a registered sex offender before his visit.

“It is unfortunate he didn’t realize his coming on campus was a violation of our policy,” Simmons said. “Our policy is in conjunction with state law and state board of education policy.”

Waters is now registered as a sex offender in the state of South Carolina, and has a given address in Winnsboro, located in Fairfield County. Simmons said that excludes him from the background search the schools use.

“Even if his name had been submitted for a criminal background check, he is an out-of-state offender, meaning he’s not registered in North Carolina, so his name wouldn’t come up in a North Carolina criminal background check,” Simmons said.

She called the circumstance a statewide issue that particularly effects counties that border another state.

“This is a challenge that needs to be addressed statewide,” Simmons said Tuesday. “We actually entered his name, and because he is not registered in the state of North Carolina, there were no results.”

Simmons said the schools employ background checks on those who volunteer with the school system.

“We do criminal background checks on people who are submitting themselves as volunteers, meaning they will have a regular presence in the schools, but we don’t do background checks on every person who enters a school building,” Simmons said.

She also said the schools maintain background checks on all retired teachers who make on-campus visits.

“The principal and the teachers of Rohanen assured us that not only in his case, but with all people, a teacher or school employee is with them at all times,” Simmons said. “Anyone who is outside of our school system must be supervised when working with children, and this is non-negotiable.”

She said officials commended Rohanen Middle faculty for making sure there was supervision in this case.

When asked about his criminal record, Waters confirmed the individual on the registry was indeed him, and pointed out the offense happened in 1992.

“This is something that happened 18 years ago,” he said, calling the registration “a scarlet letter” he must wear for the rest of his life.

He said the state of South Carolina requires that he register as a sex offender twice a year, and twice a year authorities verify his address.

“Other than that, I am free to live my life without restraints,” Waters said.

Waters said his charges were related to a “skinny-dipping” incident, and the victims were 50 to 100 feet away from him at the time.

“I’ve written a book about this that is available on our ministry’s Web site, and it is called ‘Sowing and Reaping A Fearless Heart: Convicted But Not Condemned,’” Waters said.

The book is available on the Web site www.weministry.com.

Palm Beach County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Office Communications Specialist Joseph Abreu confirmed Waters faced five charges in criminal felony court in 1992.

These five charges consisted of “three counts of lewd assault, one count of attempted sexual battery and one count of indecent exposure,” Abreu said.

The counts of attempted sexual battery and indecent exposure were filed, but never prosecuted.

As for the three counts of lewd and lascivious activity with a child under the age of 16 years old, Abreu said adjudication was withheld in those cases, meaning he wasn’t convicted of the offenses, pending a probation sentence.

In 1999, however, Waters was found to be in violation of his probation by the Florida court, and received three concurrent five and a half year sentences for the lewd and lascivious activity charges.

Abreu said the circumstances of the probation violation were unavailable.

Florida has four definitions of lewd and lascivious activity with a child. The first definition includes “handles, fondles or assaults any child under the age of 16 years in a lewd, lascivious or indecent manner.”

The second definition is “commits actual or simulated sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality, masturbation, sadomasochistic abuse, actual lewd exhibition of the genitals or any act or conduct which simulates that sexual battery is being or will be committed upon any child under the age of 16 years or forces or entices the child to commit any such act.”

The third definition is “commits an act defined as sexual battery ... upon any child under the age of 16 years,” and the final definition is “knowingly commits any lewd or lascivious act in the presence of any child under the age of 16 years, without committing the crime of sexual battery, commits a felony of the second degree ...”

Waters’ version of events indicates the fourth definition would apply in his case.

Water’s Florida Inmate Release records show he was sentenced on August 19, 1999 for the three offenses, and received three concurrent five and a half year prison sentences.

He was taken into the custody of the state of Florida on Nov. 1, 1999, and released on Aug. 1, 2001.

He is currently categorized by the state of Florida as “released - required to register,” which means he is no longer under any form of confinement, supervision or any other court sanction, but is required to register with local authorities when he moves to a new address.

North Carolina General Statute, however, appears to forbid sex offenders from visiting schools, however, except for under certain circumstances.

According to The North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Registration Programs, sex offenders are prohibited from going on “the premises of any place intended primarily for the use, care or supervision of minors, including, but not limited to, schools, children’s museums, child care centers, nurseries and playgrounds.”

They are also prohibited from going “within 300 feet of any location intended primarily for the use, care or supervision of minors when the place is located on premises that are not intended primarily for the use, care or supervision of minors, including, but not limited to, places described above in the preceding paragraph that are located in malls, shopping centers or other property open to the general public; and any place where minors gather for regularly scheduled educational, recreational or social programs.”

There apparently are exceptions to this rule if the offender is the parent or guardian of a minor, but even then written permission is required and the offender is obligated to notify school officials of their status as a registered sex offender.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.