University of North Carolina Greensboro Knowingly Hires Sex Offender

By Leslie Wetzel
Talon News
September 29, 2004

The University of North Carolina Greensboro has knowingly hired a convicted sex offender in the Office of Student Life (OSL) who has also been recently elected chairman of the Student Government's powerful finance committee. According to the new campus newspaper, The Spartan News, the finance committee, which is responsible for the budgets of all student organizations, controls a fund of $130,000.

In 2002 Michael Lee Bishop, 34, was convicted of twenty counts of possession of child pornography. He was also charged with having inappropriate contact with a 16 year old boy.

Official court documents obtained by The Spartan News indicate that on February 8, 2001, Bishop was indicted by a Guilford County grand jury on twenty counts of possession of child pornography (formally third degree sexual exploitation of a minor), one count for each illegal picture found on his computer. The indictments describe digital images of boys from the age of 8 to 14 engaged in sexual acts.

Most of the pictures depicted oral sex, either between male boys or between adolescent boys and adult males. At least two of the pictures in this category were of boys being sodomized by adult males, according to court records.

Greensboro Police Department Detective A.T. McHenry, the arresting officer, said that Mr. Bishop's roommate turned Bishop in to the authorities. The officer said that they found more images than Bishop was actually indicted for, but thought it was "ridiculous" to indict him for more.

Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Julia Heiazi, who prosecuted Bishop, said that she had great concern over Bishop's enrollment at UNCG because of the "[young] composition of the campus," according to The Spartan News.

Bishop pleaded guilty to the child pornography charges on February 18, 2002. The maximum sentence of 25 years was not awarded. A plea agreement set Bishop's sentence at three consecutive suspended prison terms of 5-6 months each. In lieu of jail, Bishop received 30 months of probation, and was placed on the state sex offender registry.

According to The Spartan News, in 2001, Bishop was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The charge resulted from a criminal complaint by Piedmont-Triad International Airport police officer L.D. Bowden who alleged that he had probable cause to believe that Bishop had been on airport property with a "naked" 16-year-old boy. Though the charge was dropped, Bishop was ordered to stay away from the juvenile in question. He has also been charged in the past with trespassing, breaking and entering, and communicating threats.

Bishop has been cited repeatedly for violating the conditions of his probation. On November 4, 2003, he was found by his probation officer to have "willfully" violated his probation by possessing "inappropriate" pornographic materials and possession of "a deadly weapon," a large knife. For this violation, Bishop's probation was increased by 18 months. At the time of this violation, Bishop was an enrolled UNCG student and an employee of OSL.

"I'm not surprised," said Detective McHenry upon learning of later charges (the ones after Feb. 8th 2001). "In my experience sex offenders do not change, statically most of them strike again."

Bishop was cited yet again for two more violations in March of this year. On March 16th, Bishop violated his probation by breaking curfew. According to a memorandum from Derek Friday, OSL Assistant Director of Programs, to probation officer David King, Bishop was late for his curfew because of duties as a member of the Campus Activities Board. Bishop was also cited for being away from his tracking device for more than an hour on March 21.

The Spartan News interviewed OSL Associate Director Checka Leinwall, in regards to Bishop's employment. In the course of the interview Leinwall admitted that OSL learned last year that Bishop was a convicted sex offender after hiring him.

When asked why Bishop's background wasn't checked before his employment, Leinwall responded, "Once a student is admitted to the university we don't ask questions."

When asked why Bishop wasn't terminated after OSL became aware of his criminal history, Leinwall responded, "That would be illegal."

Leinwall then stated that she was uncomfortable with the questions and ended the interview.

When asked about her general views about sex offenders, Leinwall said, "I believe that people can change."