A registered violent sex offender spotted at UTM in late September was arrested earlier today by the Weakley County Sheriff’s Office.
Jason Everett Nickell, 41, of Mansfield, Tenn., was taken to the Weakley County Detention Center in Dresden, possibly on a charge of violating the terms of his classification as a sex offender. Charges have not yet been confirmed.
A violent sex offender cannot be “within 1,000 feet of the property line of a building owned or operated by any public school, private school or parochial school, licensed day care center, other child care facility … while not having a reason or relationship involving custody of or responsibility for a child or any other specific legitimate reason,” according to Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) 40-39-211, Chapter 29, Part 2.
On Sept. 23, an individual who knew of Nickell spotted his white cargo van about 3:45 p.m. parked within 1,000 feet of UTM’s Margaret N. Perry Children’s Center, the witness told a Martin Police Department detective.
The detective told MPD Lt. Robbie Hatler, who notified the UTM Department of Public Safety about 10 a.m. Sept. 24. Hatler interviewed Nickell about 11 a.m. Sept. 25 at the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, through which Nickell is paroled. Nickell told Hatler that he had been on the UTM campus two days before.
Nickell was banned from campus in May 2007 because of suspicious activity on and around campus, according to a UTM Public Safety report.
Nickell has two previous offenses, third-degree indecency with a child and indecency with a child by exposure. Both of these offenses occurred in August 1995, according to the Tennessee Sexual Offender Registry on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation website, www.tbi.tn.gov.
The Pacer will continue to follow this case and will update the story as more information becomes available.
