Students warned of homeless sex offender

University Police are warning students to be on the lookout for a homeless sex offender known to frequent campus buildings.

Police say Scott O. Bancroft, 27, has been arrested on campus at least three times and is banned from university property.

“He’s been hanging around campus for the last couple years,” said Det. Stephen Smith. “When it’s cold out is when we usually see him.”

Bancroft is known for attempting to sleep in computer labs and the Morris Library, Smith said.

He was last arrested in January at the library. University Police took him to jail, Smith said, but he was let out on bail.

Bancroft is registered as a sex offender in Delaware and Maryland due to a 2007 conviction in Maryland for third-degree unlawful sexual contact with a minor under 16. He is also wanted in both states for failing to update his sex offender registration.

Bancroft is known to use drugs, police said.

Smith said Bancroft is not accused of any sex offenses on campus.

Chief Patrick Ogden said police are not sure if Bancroft is still in the area, but want to warn the public in case he is.

“We’re trying to make sure the public is familiar with him in case he shows up so we can get him out,” Ogden said.

University Police are urging anyone who sees Bancroft to contact Detective Smith or Sgt. Gates in University Police at 302-831-2222.

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2 comments

Anonymous

Fri Mar 12 2010 10:03

hahahahaha! I thought the exact same thing as I read this. I guess the poverty thing is over? Good... poverty is an important issue but it's beat like a dead horse in the Review when it never has anything to do with UD or even Newark. I'm sure if you did just a little more research you could find people on campus who were having issues getting food or paying rent. It seems like lazy journalism and isn't even really impacting at all when you just find a homeless shelter and interview someone from it. Give those extra pages to sports or to something people will actually read.

Anonymous

Tue Mar 9 2010 10:53

Is this the next installment in the poverty line? At least it's a hell of a lot more interesting than the actual series. I was happy there weren't 2 pages of the paper I had to skip over this week...

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