Repeat sex offender accused in new assaults

A repeat sex offender, released from jail over the summer, showed up at a Marin County high school Monday and was accused of sexually assaulting two people on campus, prompting officials to put the school on lockdown, San Rafael police said Wednesday.

Willie Jones, 39, of Marin City, was arrested hours after he left San Rafael’s Terra Linda High School on suspicion of several crimes, including sexual battery. The location of his arrest in downtown San Rafael is the same area where Jones was arrested four months ago for allegedly chasing and stalking three women.

His presence at the school was raising questions among San Rafael residents as to why Jones remained out of custody following multiple incidents targeting women and girls since his August release from jail as a highrisk registered sex offender.

“I want to know why was he released so soon from last time he did this,” one woman posted on the San Rafael police Facebook page, where there were dozens of comments.

Jones was spotted at the San Rafael school around 7:30 a.m. Monday, when he was walking around campus and talking to students before he followed a student into a hallway, according to police.

That student notified a teacher, who escorted Jones to the office. The school went on lockdown to prevent Jones from accessing other parts of campus, police said. Another school official escorted Jones off campus.

After Jones left, an individual on campus reported being inappropriately touched by him, police said. Police also learned there may have been additional victims touched by Jones at the school. Investigators said they believe a female under the age of 18 and an adult were among the victims. It was not immediately clear if they were students.

After school officials provided a description of Jones, an officer spotted him about 8:15 a.m. near the 1200 block of Lincoln Avenue, about 3 miles from the high school.

Jones was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of sexual battery, battery on a school employee with injury, a sex offender disrupting school, annoying a child after a conviction, burglary and a probation violation, according to jail records.

On Aug. 9, Jones had been released from jail on probation as a highrisk registered sex offender. He had been convicted for molesting a child under 18, according to his Megan’s Law profile.

A little more than a week later, on Aug. 17, San Rafael police arrested Jones on suspicion of stalking, trespassing and fleeing an officer, among other alleged violations. On that morning, police received a call from a woman reporting that a man had approached her in Boyd Park and followed her for several blocks until she was able to outrun him, police said.

While searching for Jones, officers were approached by another woman who reported that she, too, had been followed. A third victim called police 20 minutes later saying she had been chased. She told police she had barricaded herself in her workplace and Jones pounded on her door, investigators said.

Jones climbed a ladder onto the roof of a building and after a nearly twohour standoff, he climbed down and was taken into custody.

Jones has an extensive criminal history in Marin County, including charges under an alias of “Willie Curry.”