Why is Will Foster Misidentified on the Sex Offender List?

William Carl Foster could have had a brilliant career in music. Foster (pictured at right in the early 1980s) was voted the Most Promising Bass Player of the Year by the American Bluegrass Association in 1981. Despite his musical roots, Foster chose a career as a gymnastics instructor.

After being indicted on three counts of the second degree sexual abuse of three former students, Will Foster faced what could have been a long prison sentence. Choosing to plead not guilty, the Foster Family String Band member hired Florence attorney Ralph Holt to defend him at trial--a trial that never took place.

According to court records, Foster was facing charges involving children:

"The actions reportedly began when the girls were 11 and 12 years old, from 1997 to 2001."

However, before the scheduled December 2005 trial, two other former students came forward to report similar abuse. Both girls were 12 and students at the Shoals School of Gymnastics when the alleged abuse began.

Now Foster faced five charges based on five separate but extremely similar accounts of sexual abuse beginning before the young women were 13. Foster agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges. From the April 4 , 2005, TimesDaily:

"As part of the plea agreement, the 39-year-old Foster will serve six months in the Lauderdale County Detention Center and must register as a sex offender."

Was Foster guilty? At the sentencing in Mike Jones' courtroom, William Carl Foster apologized to his victims for any suffering he had caused. The victims and their families had every reason to believe Foster would not be allowed in the proximity of young children. From the Alabama Code:

(5) Criminal sex offense involving a child. A conviction for any criminal sex offense in which the victim was a child under the age of 12 and any offense involving child pornography.

(f) No adult criminal sex offender, after having been convicted of a criminal sex offense involving a child, shall loiter on or within 500 feet of any property on which there is a school, child care facility, playground, park, athletic field or facility, school bus stop, or any other business or facility having a principal purpose of caring for, educating, or entertaining minors.

So why was Foster not arrested at Chuck E Cheese, or at least made to leave? Apparently the state Community Information Center has the wrong data on file:










This can and should be changed. Now we have to wonder just how many other sex offenders have been misidentified...


Shoalanda



Ssssh. It's coming to the Shoals soon...

Will Foster & the Alabama Sex Offender Registry

Last Friday, Will Foster of Florence attended a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese in Sheffield. An alert customer spotted Foster and called the Sheffield Police. Why?

William Carl Foster is a convicted sex offender--and has been since 2006. The customer thought Foster was committing a crime by being at the chain restaurant noted for its children's birthday parties. We agree with her; however, based on the Alabama Sex Offender Registry, Foster had every right to be there. Why the confusion?

"Why?" indeed. Isn't the Registry accurate? 'Fraid not, but first let's look at Foster's crimes.

According to court records, Foster was charged on July 22, 2005, with:

"production of obscene matter of a person under 17, three counts of first-degree sexual abuse and nine counts of enticing a child for immoral purposes."

However, after the case was presented to a Lauderdale County Grand Jury, the charges were reduced to:

"three charges of second-degree sexual abuse."

We may never know why the grand jury chose to indict on such reduced charges, but perhaps Foster's standing in the community played a major role. William Carl Foster is the son of Dr. Bill Foster, a retired UNA professor, and was at the time of his arrest a part of the Foster Family Band. Foster had also been a respected gymnastics instructor for many years--a position that placed him with numerous underage girls.

Once the initial charges were published, many speculated that others would come forward--and they did. What happened next is a case of plea bargaining at its best.


Tomorrow: How William Carl Foster avoided prison.

Shoalanda



Ssssh. It's coming to the Shoals soon...

Sex Offender at Chuck E Cheese

An alert customer informed Sheffield Police that a convicted sex offender was seen Friday at Chuck E Cheese on Hatch Boulevard. Authorities arrived within minutes of the complaint, questioned the suspect, and released him. Since the offender's listed victim was over the age of 12, he is allowed to attend functions where young children are present.

Our contact at the Sheffield Police Department identified the subject, and while the offender's specific charge is indeed listed as abuse of a 13 year-old girl, he was also accused of sexual contact with a child as young as 11. Like many others, he was an authority figure, from a well-known family, and not one fitting the mold of a "dirty old man."

Is it any worse when those who abuse our children are those to whom we have entrusted their care? Perhaps not, but it should certainly be a wake-up call to all parents. Kudos to the customer who informed the authorites.

*****

C. R. reports from Cherokee on another ethics violation:

Friday Cherokee Councilpersons Glover and Mason found out that an ethics complaint was filed against them. The complaint stated both councilpersons voted on matters related to their family members. Monday morning Councilman Mike Malone will learn the same thing. The complaint against Malone has to do with voting on matters related to a family member. Rumors around town state a fourth city councilperson will have an ethics complaint filed against them; which will add another charge against three other councilpersons.


Shoalanda