CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, VA – Virginia police worked with Gaston County police to arrest a teacher living in the Carolinas who they said was searching for underage girls on the Internet.

Virginia police began their investigation seven weeks ago. Detective Keith Vincent's primary task as detective is to log on to Internet chat rooms, posing as a 13-year-old girl from Richmond, Virginia. He waits on sexual predators to make their move. He logs on three days a week at least a few hours each time.

"I adopt the persona of 13-year-old white female that lives in Richmond, Virginia," Vincent said.

That's what led him to Gastonia, in pursuit of a local man who allegedly initiated explicit sexual conversations with the undercover cop, thinking he was talking to a 13-year-old girl. That suspect, according to Vincent, is East Gaston High School teacher Randy Jennings of Mount Holly. Vincent said the two have been talking since the first week of June and even chatted online Wednesday.

A month into their investigation, Virginia detectives asked the Gaston County Police Department for help. Apparently Jennings had already mentioned to Vincent that he was a teacher.

Eventually police said Jennings began sending ****ographic images to the "13-year-old girl." Vincent said Jennings solicited the "girl" as well.

"Very soon after the initial contact by Mr. Jennings, the conversation quickly turned sexual in nature," said Vincent.

Jennings was arrested early Wednesday morning at East Gaston High School where he worked for four years as a business education teacher and JV girl's basketball coach.

According to Kathy O'Donoghue, whose daughters played on Jennings' team, the news has been devastating.

"They are crying. They are really upset. They thought a lot of him," she said about two of her daughters.

O'Donoghue points to when the girls' father died back in November. She said Jennings brought some of the players to the funeral to show support.

"He knew we had money problems, he also paid for their basketball uniforms," O'Donoghue added.

In Jennings' Mount Holly neighborhood, much of the same reaction: shock. Neighbors said the husband and father of two simply isn't capable of this.

Alex Lawrence lives just down the block from Jennings, his wife and two young children.

"I guess that's the scariest thing, you never know who your neighbor is, and with all these kids around, you never know what might or might not happen to them," Lawrence said.

Jennings is facing two counts of attempted indecent liberties on a minor, two counts using communications device to solicit a minor, and nine counts of distribution of child ****ography in Virgina. His extradition hearing will be held Friday at the Gaston County courthouse.

Gaston County police searched Jennings' home Thursday and are pouring over evidence now. They said more charges in North Carolina are not out of the question. They will also look into whether Jennings had any inappropriate activities with students and children he had access to on a regular basis.

Jennings is suspended from East Gaston High School with pay, pending the outcome of the investigation. He is not known to have a criminal record either by the school district or the police agencies investigating him.

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Hmph. He must have taken a page out of my former next-door neighbor's book.

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The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
-- H. L. Mencken

It never ceases to amaze me how many sickos are out there....

I think they should tie them to s stake and let all of us Mommies get hold of them.....

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