Tanque Verde superintendent arrested

Albert Thomas "Tom" Rogers, who also serves as an associate principal and taught at Emily Gray Junior High School, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the San Luis Port of Entry on suspicion of "travel with intent to engage in sex with a juvenile," a criminal complaint from the U.S. Attorney's Office shows.

Officials say Rogers used an online site — part of an undercover operation — to reserve a tour that was to include sexual acts with a 13- or 14-year-old boy in Mexico, the complaint shows.

Before being hired by the Tanque Verde district in April 2007, Rogers, 51, a native of Missoula, Mont., had worked in schools in Montana, Nevada and Yuma County, and had taught English and computer skills to first- through third-graders while living in Thailand for two years.

If he is convicted on a charge of travel with intent to engage in sex with a juvenile, the maximum statutory penalty is 30 years and/or a $250,000 fine, said Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona. Rogers had an initial appearance in Yuma on Monday, and his status hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday. He is in U.S. Marshals Service custody pending the status hearing, Hornbuckle said.

On Monday, Tanque Verde Governing Board President Steven Auslander and about 15 other school officials gathered at the district's offices after learning of the arrest.

"It's a shock," Auslander said "It's a disappointment. It's almost indescribably painful. Tom has been an exemplary superintendent, which is what we had all hoped he would be when we interviewed him for this position over two years ago."

Auslander, who has two daughters in schools in the district, said, "This was not the sort of news I wanted today."

The board was scheduled to conduct an emergency executive session at the district offices, 11150 E. Tanque Verde Road, on Monday night "to confer with counsel to determine how best to proceed in providing what assistance we are asked for by the folks conducting the investigation — for ICE and for TPD (Tucson Police Department)."

The board voted to place Rogers on paid leave.

"What's on our minds, among other things at this stage of the game, is to ensure that Tom gets his due process in accordance with the law. We don't want to step on his legal rights, and that's a concern along with the operation of the school district," Auslander said.

He said there also is the question of how best to address the concerns of parents. He did not have specifics, but he said the district would hold a meeting for parents.

The criminal complaint outlines a seven-month investigation that began online in December and concluded Friday at the San Luis Port of Entry, south of Yuma.

According to the complaint:

On Dec. 13, 2008, using a screen name of "rawbear," Rogers made contact with undercover federal agents regarding a child-sex tour to Mexico. On Jan. 2, an undercover agent acting as a proprietor of a child-sex tourism business e-mailed Rogers a tour reservation application after he had mentioned he was considering a trip in late February.

On Feb. 9, the undercover agent received a completed, handwritten tour reservation form that listed Rogers' name, address, telephone number and age. He asked for a boy 13 or 14 years old, and he checked "relaxation intimacy" under the preferred activities section. Rogers sent a signed Wells Fargo personal check for $50 with the reservation as a deposit.

On Feb. 16, Rogers e-mailed the undercover agent to notify her that he would have to delay his late-February trip due to issues at work. On April 13, Rogers contacted the agent again online and requested one night with a boy on June 19-20 in Mexico.

On June 4, Rogers e-mailed the undercover agent that he would be arriving in Yuma on June 19 at 1 p.m. A few days later, Rogers responded to an e-mail from the agent in which he discussed the types of sex acts he would like to perform with the boy.

When he arrived to Yuma International Airport on Friday, an undercover agent posing as a driver for the sex-tourism company met him. They traveled by car to the San Luis Port of Entry, where he was arrested as he walked to Mexico.

While all arrests of sexual-predator suspects are important, the apparent violation of public trust makes the arrest of Rogers stand out, said Matt Allen, special agent in charge of ICE investigations in Arizona.

"It's a particularly important case whenever we identify individuals who have regular and daily contact with children," Allen said.

Since Immigration and Customs Enforcement started its undercover sex-tourism operation in Yuma in 1997, its agents have arrested 43 suspects, including Rogers.

The investigation is part of Operation Predator, an ongoing agency initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel to foreign nations for sex with minors.

Many people plan trips to other countries to take advantage of looser laws or less focus on child exploitation, Allen said.

"We want to make sure that, in this case, the border is a barrier and we protect children throughout the world, and not just in the United States," Allen said.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release said the agency is working with the Tucson Police Department to "determine if Rogers' alleged criminal activity extended to the workplace."

"We don't know that it did, but we want to practice due diligence," said Vincent Picard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman.

But Tucson police Officer Charles Rydzak said the department's only involvement in the case was providing tactical support to immigration agents so they could serve search warrants in the area. He was not aware of any investigation of the school district, he said.

Stacey Williams, who has two children in the Tanque Verde Unified School District, said she was shocked by the news.

"I'm deeply disappointed, and I certainly hope that our district will terminate him — that they're not going to let him come back," she said.

She has met Rogers, and thought he was fine, she said.

"He was a little bit different, but nothing too far out of the ordinary. . . . I wouldn't necessarily have thought he was a danger to our children but now I do."

Rogers ran as a Libertarian in a failed bid last November to displace Republican Linda Arzoumanian as the Pima County school superintendent.

He didn't campaign for the job but said he wanted to ensure that Libertarians — and their message of less government intervention — had a place in the election.

His platform included several issues that rarely get support in public-education circles: vouchers for private-school education and deep cuts in federal involvement and spending.

More recently, Rogers agreed to lop $15,000 off his $105,000 salary to help the district deal with budget cuts.

Dave Euchner, a public defender who was chairman of the Libertarian Party when Rogers ran for office, said he was "flabbergasted" at the news. "I am surprised, but that's always the reaction in cases like this," he said.

"He just struck me as a regular guy, just like anybody else," Euchner said. "We had limited conversations, but he struck me as an intelligent person who cared about his community, and that's why he was running for office."

Before coming to Tucson, Rogers was the superintendent of Shelby Public Schools in Shelby, Mont. In the 1990s, Rogers was a middle-school principal in Somerton, in Yuma County, and superintendent of the Gadsden Elementary School District in San Luis, Ariz.

ICE tip line

You can report suspected child predators and other suspicious activity to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at this toll-free number: 1-866-347-2423.