How did a convicted sex offender get inside a Hartford school? That’s the question some parents and guardians are looking for answers to after a man was charged with trespassing Tuesday morning after being told to leave.
“Honestly, I am shocked about it but then again, I’m more concerned," Shameeka Williams, whose niece attends Sarah Rawson Elementary School, said.
Williams is concerned for her niece's safety after a convicted sex offender was charged with trespassing at the school Tuesday morning. Williams said the news was unsettling.
“Knowing that it is a school, there are children under a certain age. It’s not like a high school,” she said.
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Hartford police arrested 48-year-old Alexander Robles and charged him with second-degree criminal trespassing. School officials say Robles was turned away from the school after asking the principal if he could use a bathroom inside.
They said he then went around the building and entered a loading dock door that was temporarily unlocked by cafeteria workers as they were waiting for a delivery. They said Robles then got into a staff-only restroom, where he was found by school workers who alerted security.
He was then escorted off the property and arrested by Hartford police.
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Williams questioned why the door was unlocked in the first place.
“Knowing that he simply just walked in a side door, everyone just has to know that if I open something, I have to close it right behind me,” she said.
Robles is a registered sex offender with records showing he was convicted of sexual assault in 1996 and was imprisoned until 1999. He was also convicted of three charges of sexual assault in 2002.
Court records show Robles has also faced charges of criminal trespassing earlier this year and failed in appear in court on that charge as well.
Williams said she hopes school administration can make changes so staff are more vigilant with trespassers.
“It’s saddening to know it has happened, but you always have to make sure you know what’s going on in your surroundings and keep a close eye on everything," she said.
Officials said school was in session at the time, but Robles never entered any area where students were.
