By: E&P Staff A convicted pedophile, whose background was unknown to school officials until the local newspaper called, addressed 600 grade schoolers at a Veterans Day program in Freehold, N.J. on Tuesday.
Superintendent of Schools Catherine Snyder and Catena School Principal Neal Dickstein said they were unaware of Egerton's background until a reporter called them Thursday. "I'm honestly shocked," Dickstein told te Asbury Park Press. "When you call an organization such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), this is the last thing to expect."
William R. Egerton, 66, was convicted in 1990 of sexual assault for fondling four girls ages 10 to 15 while he was serving as a local police officer. He was one of five members of a local VFW post invited to the elementary school. He is listed as a "Tier 2/Moderate" sex offender on the State Police's New Jersey Sex Offender Internet Registry.
"There was no way, from my perspective, we would know this person is a sex offender," said Snyder. "We invited the VFW, we didn't invite (a) sex offender into our school."
Egerton apparently was never alone with any students. "I'm just trying to lead a regular life," he told the newspaper. "There's so many different things you can't do (because of being a convicted sex offender)."
His visit to the school came to light when an Asbury Park Press reporter who had covered the Veterans Day program mentioned his name to a colleague, who recognized it.
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