Is this Sex Offender a Hero or a Vile Villain?

 

About five years ago, there was a very unusual event in Limestone County. We're presenting a condensed version of events:

A convicted sex offender working at an Alabama volunteer fire department has been arrested because he responded to emergency calls that were located too close to a school and daycare. Bobby Wayne Crow, 54, of Athens, was working for the Oak-Grove Thach Volunteer Fire Department when he responded to calls near Ardmore High School and the daycare program at Ardmore First Baptist Church in Limestone County, sheriff's spokesman Stephen Young said.

Crow was convicted of second-degree rape in Athens in 1987 because two years earlier he had sex with a girl younger than 16, Young said. Alabama's sex offender registration laws allow Crow to work for the fire department, but he's not allowed to be within 2,000 feet of schools or daycare centers.

"And he knew that," Young said. "He registered in April of this year, so he had signed the papers."

John Pritchard, vice president of the Limestone County Volunteer Fire Departments Association board, said he wasn't aware there was a convicted sex offender working at Oak-Grove.

"Whether they knew or not, I'm not sure," Pritchard said. "Each department carries their own set of bylaws and how they discipline things. Most departments do not allow convicted felons, but I can't speak for any one department." Pritchard said the board doesn't oversee the 13 volunteer fire departments in the county, but rather works primarily to get funding for the organizations.

It isn't immediately clear whether Crow will be allowed to keeping volunteering. The fire chief at Oak-Grove wasn't immediately available for comment.

The calls Crow responded to were on First Avenue East and Ardmore Avenue. The school is on Ardmore Avenue, and the daycare is on Fifth Street. Authorities got warrants for Crow's arrest after the District Attorney's Office reviewed a list of calls he responded to.

Crow was released from Limestone County Jail a few hours after his arrest Tuesday on $30,000 bail. He is charged with two Class C felony counts of violating Alabama's Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison on each charge.

So did Crow do a wonderful heroic act when he helped put out these fires near two schools...or should he be judged on his previous crime against a young woman? Tell us what you think. 

It seems this question is very applicable again here in the Shoals.