SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KFSM) — Police have arrested a Level 3 sex offender who worked one day at the Don Tyson School of Innovation earlier this month doing construction work.
Mark Joseph Sullivan, 27, was arrested in connection with entering a school campus as a registered sex offender, a Class D felony.
Springdale police said Sullivan was contacted by his probation officer about working at the school, which was in summer session on June 4 when picked up trash and placed some plywood on newly poured concrete, according to an arrest report.
Police confirmed Sullivan worked at the school via the construction company, Baldwin Shell, and using GPS points from Sullivan's ankle monitor, which placed him at the school.
Sullivan said he didn't see any kids while he was at the school and didn't know he couldn't work there. Police note, however, that Sullivan told his probation officer he was worried he could lose his job since he worked a day at the school.
Sullivan pleaded guilty in 2018 to two counts of sexual indecency with a child for exposing himself to a 9-year-old girl. He was given three years probation.
As a Level 3 sex offender, he is considered a "high risk," under Arkansas standards.
Level 3 offenders typically have a history of repeat sexual offending and strong antisocial, violent or predatory personalities, according to the state’s sex offender assessment committee.
In Arkansas, sex offenders are assigned to one of four levels based on a risk assessment process: Level 1: low risk; Level 2: moderate risk; Level 3: high risk; Level 4: sexually violent predator.
State law bars Level 3 or Level 4 sex offenders from knowingly entering a public school campus, according to Arkansas Code Annotated 5-14-132.
Sullivan was being held Wednesday (June 12) at the Washington County Detention Center on a $10,000 bond. He has a hearing set for July 5 in Washington County Circuit Court.
In Arkansas, Class D felonies are punishable by up to six years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.