By Cathy Logg
Herald Writer
State officials on Thursday removed a 13-year-old convicted sex offender from his foster home and returned him to juvenile prison because of a reported parole violation.
Nicholas Stroeder was returned to the Echo Glen facility near North Bend, where he may be held for up to 30 days. He is accused of making a threatening gesture with a mechanical pencil toward a member of his support team on Jan. 10 while he was in foster care in Island County. The support team member didn’t feel threatened, and the incident wasn’t immediately reported to police, said Kathy Spears, a state Department of Social and Health Services spokeswoman.
"That person still does not feel there was a safety issue," Spears said. "It wasn’t a stabbing motion, more just a threatening motion."
Stroeder most recently had been living in a foster home at Seabeck in Kitsap County, where he was placed by Catholic Community Services staff. The agency is a private provider of services for children that contracts with DSHS.
"Nicholas has been very stable, with no incidents, in his placement in his foster care at Seabeck," said Marilyn Perry, a regional administrator with the DSHS Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration. "But regardless of whether the person felt threatened or not, it’s important that Nicholas understand that there are consequences to inappropriate behavior — even if it doesn’t rise to the level of a crime."
Anacortes police are investigating the incident, Spears said.
Stroeder was convicted last year of indecent liberties for an attack on a pregnant woman in a mall bathroom. He was never charged in two previous sexual attacks on children. He is developmentally delayed, sexually aggressive and has emotional and behavioral disorders. He must be supervised around-the-clock.
When Stroeder is released from Echo Glen, he will remain in the care of Catholic Community Services, said Jackie O’Ryan, an agency spokeswoman.
Officials aren’t sure whether Stroeder will return to the foster home in Seabeck, she said.
Neighbors of the Seabeck home, where Stroeder lived with his foster mother and a supervisor, have organized numerous protests about his presence in the community.
You can call Herald Writer Cathy Logg at 425-339-3437 or send e-mail to logg@heraldnet.com.
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