Polson sex offender violates probation, works with kids

KALISPELL — On April 20, Flathead County authorities arrested Donald Irvin Stanfield, a 26-year-old sex offender from Polson, after they discovered he was teaching dance classes to children at the Northwest Ballet School in Kalispell.

Stanfield was also living in the city, despite telling the court he was living at his mother’s home in Polson. He now faces the revocation of his original six-year deferred sentence for sexual assault and a new felony charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

In 2006, Stanfield was charged with two counts of sexual intercourse without consent. He was convicted on the amended charge of one count of sexual assault and sentenced to six years of probation in 2008. According to the Daily Inter Lake, director and owner of the Northwest Ballet Company, Marisa Roth, said Stanfield’s relationship with the company also began in 2006.

“He started not only doing guest work with us as far as being in performances but he started taking classes as well,” Roth said in a press release last week. “He was becoming quite a talented young man in the world of dance.”

Roth said the Northwest Ballet Company did not learn of Stanfield’s convictions until she was contacted by law enforcement. Not only was Stanfield required by law to register as a sex offender, but he failed to report to his probation officer that he had moved to Kalispell, was taking classes at Flathead Valley Community College or that he was working at the ballet company.

At Stanfield’s bond modification hearing on May 10, the Inter Lake reported that his mother testified on his behalf, calling her son an “honorable man” who was working his way through classes at FVCC. She said that he could come back and live with her in Polson, if he was released.

However, Flathead District Judge David Ortley said that Stanfield’s work with children caused him “great concern,” despite results from a prior court-ordered evaluation, which said that he posed only a 6 percent risk of re-offending. Stanfield pleaded not guilty to failing to register as a sex offender, and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $10,000 for that crime. His deferred sentence of six years for the original charge could also be reinstated.

According to court documents, in 2006, Stanfield admitted to authorities that he had sexual intercourse with two minors.

He said the last time he assaulted the first victim was in 2005, when she was 15. He admitted to having had intercourse with her on at least two occasions and that he started touching the victim when she was 7 or 8 years old. Stanfield was approximately 14 years old when the abuse began and 21 when it ended.

Stanfield also admitted to authorities that he touched a second victim on several occasions. Documents state, he admitted to trying to have sex with her. The victim was 9 years old at the time of the abuse. Stanfield was approximately 18.

Court documents state, on April 20, 2012, the Flathead Sheriff’s office received a report that Stanfield was living in Flathead County and was not registered there. The sheriff’s office contacted Roth, who stated that he had been living in Kalispell for some time and was attending FVCC. She added that he was teaching break dancing classes on Mondays.

Authorities then interviewed Stanfield, who confirmed that he had been living in Kalispell since September 2011. At the time of his arrest, there was just one student in his class at the Northwest Ballet Company, an 11-year-old. Roth said Stanfield’s class had four students at its peak.

In response to the incident, Roth said that she has instituted a complete background check policy for all employees and volunteers. The company employs seven faculty members, two nonpaid positions and others who volunteer for specific shows or duties.

“The company takes seriously its responsibility to provide a safe place for children to learn dance,” Roth wrote in the press release. “The company was betrayed by Stanfield, who alone is responsible for his actions. The company was also betrayed by a system that puts sex offenders on probation, orders them to register and notify their employers and then does nothing to enforce its orders for four years.”

Stanfield was previously monitored by law enforcement in Lake County under his registered address. Even if Stanfield had registered as a sex offender in Flathead County, the terms of his plea agreement still required him to notify Roth of his sex offender status and receive approval from his supervising officer and/or his sex offender therapist in order to take the job.

Among the other stipulations of his plea agreement, Stanfield was forbidden to have “alone contact” or socialization with any female under the age of 18; frequent places where children congregate; or travel outside his assigned district, unless accompanied by an approved, responsible adult who was aware of his sexual convictions.

As of Monday, Stanfield was still at the Flathead County Detention Center. His next hearing on the new charge is scheduled for July 18, 2012.