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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, October 11, 2012 INCIDENTS Ozark NSR Seasonal Employee Sentenced For Video Voyeurism On September 28th, a federal judge sentenced former NPS seasonal maintenance employee R.C. to a term of three months imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised probation and a fifteen year requirement to register as a sex offender. R.C. admitted that he used his cell phone camera to obtain images of a 16-year-old girl as she used an NPS shower facility in a park campground. R.C. was able to lie down in an adjacent utility room and place his cell phone in a hole connected to the shower room to obtain the images. The victim saw the cell phone disappear into the hole and grew suspicious. She told her parents, who notified park rangers. R.C. was subsequently interviewed by a NPS special agent and confessed. The cell phone was seized and a search warrant was performed by a NPS computer crimes investigator, who analyzed the contents. Ozark officials terminated R.C.'s employment the day he confessed to the special agent. Ozark officials immediately retrofitted the shower facility to prevent future incidents. They recommend that all NPS managers inspect their facilities for foundation vents, auxiliary drains or other structural features or openings that may be accessed to conduct similar criminal activities. [Investigative Services Branch] Grand Canyon NP Former Manager Of Non-Profit Charged With Theft And Fraud In January 2011, the Investigative Services Branch (ISB) was contacted by members of the board of directors of the Grand Canyon Recreation Center, a not-for-profit organization operating within the confines of the park. They asked ISB to look into the possibility that the former manager of the recreation center used center funds for personal use over a period of two years. During the investigation, two federal search warrants were served and a number of items purchased with the center's funds were recovered. The amount of the theft was in excess of $40,000. On October 2nd, the former manager was charged in US District Court for the District of Arizona with theft and access device fraud. Both charges are felonies. [Investigative Services Branch] Lake Mead NRA Body Found On Shore Of Lake Mead The body of a 54-year-old man was found on the Arizona shoreline on October 4th. He was found near an inflatable kayak that was still inflated; a personal flotation device (lifejacket) was found on board, but was not on the man when he was discovered. No cause of death was readily evident. The park is investigating the county coroner's office is conducting an autopsy. [Christie Vanover, Public Affairs Officer] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/): Fire and Aviation Management - Take a Fire Prevention Week break to learn about a park's structural fire callout and discuss what oversights in prevention efforts made the response to this incident difficult. Information Resources - Jim Merrill, chief of the User Services Branch in Lakewood, Colorado, is retiring on October 31st following 42 years of federal service, including 22 years with NPS. NPS Alumni - Milton Grady Arrington Jr., 62, a retired park ranger who worked for the NPS for 30 years, died on Friday, September 28th. * * * * The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). --- ### --- |