June 19, 2013

Sex offender arrested for being on school property

BY: NAOMI JAGODA OCTOBER 25, 2012 | 8:25 PM
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A registered sex offender was arrested Wednesday after he spent time at a Woodbridge church while a home school program was being conducted, police said.

Joseph Thurman Gordon Jr., 63, was charged with sex offenses prohibiting entry onto school or other property, according to Prince William County police. He was released on $2,500 bond and has a court date on Jan. 2.

On Wednesday, Gordon was at Old Bridge United Methodist Church, located at 3966 Old Bridge Road, while children were participating in a home school program. He was participating in a separate, unrelated program at the church, but afterwards he entered a school classroom occupied by seven children and interacted with an adult teacher, police said. He did not interact with any of the students.

After Gordon encountered another adult patron in the parking lot, officers went to the church and confirmed that Gordon was a registered sex offender who was not allowed on the church's premises during school or day care hours. According to court records, Gordon was convicted of aggravated sexual battery in in Prince William County Circuit Court in 1993.

njagoda@washingtonexaminer.com

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