Man who visited school dressed in diaper arrested

Police say suspect being held in jail is registered under Megan's Law

By Rob Seman, Daily Record

PEQUANNOCK -- A man wearing a diaper and pink women's stretch pants was arrested after relieving himself in front of staff and students at a Catholic elementary school, police said Friday.

William Rode III, 53, of Paterson, was found near the Shop-Rite in Lincoln Park by police shortly after the incident Thursday at the Holy Spirit School on Newark-Pompton Turnpike in Pequannock.

Rode, who is registered under Megan's Law, entered the facility at dismissal time through an open door, police said.

While wearing the diaper under the pink pants, Rode asked the staff for a job application and upon being turned away, defecated and urinated in his pants in front of staff and students, police said. He then fled.

Police report disputed

Officials from the school and the Catholic Diocese in Paterson dispute the police account, saying Rode never entered the school and was quickly turned away by staff members.

"I was told by the teacher that he was on the deck outside" of the pre-kindergarten building, said Marianna Thompson, a spokeswoman for the diocese. "They said there were no (job) opportunities and asked him to leave."

The pre-kindergarten building houses a class of 22 children and is separate from the rest of the school. The entire pre-K-8 school has an enrollment of 319 students.

Sister Marie Antonelli, the principal of the school, said that each of the teachers is equipped with a walkie-talkie and that the pre-kindergarten building is equipped with a wireless telephone.

"With our security system, the minute he approached the door the police were called first and the main building was notified and there were communication with all the teachers on walkie-talkies," Antonelli said.

The principal would not comment further on the school's response to the incident, referring all questions to Thompson

'We're dealing with it'

"We're dealing with it," Antonelli said. "There are no problems right now. Parents were spoken to. There are really no problems at this point."

Thompson said that no counseling was given to students on Friday.

"None of them seem to be aware of what was going on," Thompson said. "They were being dismissed. Their focus was elsewhere."

Thompson also said the staff did not receive counseling on Friday.

"They know that this is their job," Thompson said.

Rode was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and was sent to Morris County Jail on $75,000 bail.

Dooley said Rode may have been involved in similar incidents in Oak Ridge and Hardyston earlier that day as well as in Roxbury. Police said Rode was registered under Megan's Law but Lt. Daniel Dooley said he could not reveal what, if any, prior convictions Rode had.

Warning over clingfilm 'condoms'

Cash-strapped teenagers are using clingfilm and crisp packets as condoms because they cannot afford the real thing, say experts.

Sexual health experts say these improvised contraceptives not only do not work - but do not offer protection against disease.

The Family Planning Association is calling for more government money for free contraceptives.

Consultant Peter Greenhouse said: "This happens when people are desperate."

Mr Greenhouse, who also set up the first integrated sexual health clinic in Ipswich in 1991 and is now based at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, said that such practices were common in the UK's poorest areas.

He said: "The use of crisp packets and cling film is something anyone who has been working in sexual health for any period of time knows.

"These young people are so poverty stricken they cannot even afford the bus fare to get into town, so how can they afford condoms?

"The message about sexually transmitted diseases has got through to teenagers but they don't have the money to implement the advice.

Low spending

Mr Greenhouse works at the city's Milne Centre for Sexual Health turns away 550 people a week.

The city has less than half the average number of sexual health doctors and nurses working in the rest of the UK.

He said: "Some areas such as Bristol are struggling where spending is historically dangerously low compared to other parts of the country.

"We cannot stay in this poverty trap. Young people need access to clinics and need to be aware of the failure rate of various contraceptives and advised that the condom is not always the most economical or effective form."

The Family Planning Association wants to see condoms freely available in doctors' surgeries throughout the country.

A spokeswoman backed calls for better funding for clinics.

The government has ordered a review of the modernisation of sexual health clinics in the wake of a highly critical report by the Health Select Committee last year.

Girl, 20 Killed Over Alleged Witchcraft Pushed Down From 3-Storey Building

P.M. News (Lagos)
February 10, 2004
Posted to the web February 10, 2004
Abimbola Adebayo
Lagos

A 20-year-old girl, Nkiru Iruka, has been murdered by her cousin, ThankGod Ukwueze, 19, who accused her of witchcraft.

Investigations revealed that Nkiru was beaten to death with a pestle and later thrown down from the third floor of Block 15, 1004 Flats, Victoria Island, Lagos, where she resided with her uncle, Group Captain Okibedi.

P.M.News gathered that ThankGod and his friend, who carried out the dastardly act, had earlier smoked Indian Hemp and gulped several bottles of beer before they got home on the fateful day, 17 January, 2004.

It was learnt that trouble began when ThankGod asked Nkiru and another cousin, Iju Ike, to go and sleep, but should not lock the door.

P.M.News gathered further that at about 2 a.m. on the fateful day, ThankGod and his friend stormed Nkiru's room and tried to exorcise the witchcraft power in her by beating her with a pestle, shouting "holy ghost fire" and later threw her down from the third floor.

It was gathered that ThankGod and his friend, who were deported from the US had earlier blamed Nkiru for their fate. They allegedly accused her of using witchcraft power to cause their deportation from the US on 6 January, 2004.

On arrival, P.M.News gathered further that ThankGod immediately burst into tears and phoned his father, accusing Nkiru of being behind his problems. He vowed to deal with her, but his father warned him against that.

In her statement to the Police, Iju Ike said it took the intervention of neighbours before ThankGod was overpowered and arrested. She claimed that the suspect, who is currently being detained by the police, tried to kill her too, but she was saved by the intervention of neighbours.

The suspect, in his statement, denied killing the deceased.

He claimed not to have known what happened on the day in question. The matter would soon be taken to court.

'Fawlty' hotelier criticized for refusing to serve tap water free

LONDON (AP) - Shades of Basil Fawlty.

A hotelier who wrote to a client explaining why she couldn't have a free glass of tap water was showered with bad publicity Friday, being compared in some British newspapers to John Cleese's ill-tempered hotel keeper on TV's Fawlty Towers. Sally Burchell, a guest at the Atlantic Hotel in Newquay, southwest England, complained to managing director Anthony Cobley that she was refused a glass of tap water with her meal, worth 18 pounds or about $42 Cdn.

Staff told her she would have to pay 80 pence (almost $2) for a small bottle of mineral water or two pounds (about $5) for one litre.

Cobley wrote back: "I buy water from the South West Water company. I buy the glasses that the water is served in. I buy the ice that goes into the water and I buy the labour to serve the water.

"I provide the luxury surroundings for the water to be drunk in and again pay for the labour and washing materials to wash the glass after you have used it, and you think that I should provide all of this free of charge!

"As regards your comment that you will not be returning to the Atlantic Hotel ever again, leaves me to say that customers who only drink water and complain about paying for it, I can certainly do without."

"This is like a letter from Basil Fawlty," The Daily Telegraph quoted Burchell as saying.

"There were a lot of us there and we spent a lot of money on drinks between us. Some people were even staying the night so it seemed a little tight to charge me for water."

Martin Couchman, deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, said Cobley was wrong.

"Looking after customers and making them feel happy is a major part of hospitality. One hopes that as part of customer after-care, people who write letters do so in such a way as to make customers feel as happy as possible," he said.

Dog rape attempt goes astray

From correspondents in Bangkok
February 4, 2004

A THAI man was mauled when he drunkenly tried to rape a dog which fiercely resisted his advances, news reports said yesterday.

Police in Samut Prakan province, on Bangkok's southeastern fringes, told the Thai Rath newspaper that Toryip Rawang, 33, had been drinking heavily with friends before Monday's incident.

Toryip was questioned by police after residents of the area notified local authorities when they saw the bloodied man walking along a road.

He told police he noticed a brown female stray dog wagging its tail and "acting sexy" and pulled it into some tall grass by the roadside.

But the dog resisted, biting him on his face, chest and arms before he gave up his attempt and tried to stagger home.

Under further questioning Toryip admitted to previously raping three dogs while he was under the influence of alcohol.

He told police he always became aroused when he drank heavily but did not have enough money to pay a prostitute.

Police said Toryip had been given a rabies shot and was not charged with a crime, but he had fled his home in an apparent effort to avoid public ridicule.