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Man reportedly admits to sex crimes to store employees after breaking into schools

Johnny Maroney | Butte County Sheriff’s Office
ARCO – A Wyoming man was arrested after he reportedly broke into an elementary school and later admitted to sexually assaulting family members.
Johnny Maroney, 55, was charged with felony burglary on Jan. 30.
According to documents from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received a call from dispatch on Jan. 29 stating a man had entered Family Dollar, approached two of the clerks, and “declared that he had touched (two family members) inappropriately.”
Deputies responded to the store where the clerks showed them security footage of the man entering the store. Based on previous encounters, deputies recognized him as Maroney.
When deputies returned to the sheriff’s office, they heard a knock outside the door. When they opened the door, Maroney was there. He told them he had been “walking and doing God’s work” all day, according to court documents.
Maroney confirmed he had been to Family Dollar and talked to the clerks about inappropriately touching his family members.
He told deputies one of the assaults happened two to three months ago when one of his family members was 11. The other assault reportedly occurred when the other family member was 18, but Maroney said that person is now in her thirties.
When deputies asked what Maroney’s intent was during the alleged assaults, he responded that “it was not to have sex.”
Deputies attempted to help Maroney contact his wife, but he said he was unable to. When asked why, he said he had “thrown his phone out the window of the car when stuck in the snow because God told him to” and no longer knew his wife’s phone number, according to police records.
Maroney was able to provide the phone number of a friend and through them, they were able to contact Maroney’s wife. She reportedly stated she “did not believe the statements made by (Maroney) about touching (the 11-year-old victim).”
She allegedly said Maroney must be “out of his senses to make a statement of that nature” and that she was concerned for his safety.
A little while later, Maroney told deputies they “would probably receive reports of him around the school because he had been walking all around it,” according to court documents. When asked why Maroney said he had not only walked around but had been inside the school through an open door.
When asked what he did in the school, Maroney reportedly told deputies he walked around, filled out a form, left it on a table, and nothing else.
Deputies told Maroney they would give him a ride home and told him not to walk around town anymore.
After dropping off Maroney at home, deputies searched Butte County High School and Arco Elementary School. Deputies state in police records that they saw “boot tracks in the fresh snow around the doors and windows of both the high school and elementary school.”
When inside the elementary school, deputies found “on a small table, a yellow document filled out with (Maroney’s information).” When clearing the bathrooms, one of the deputies observed what “appeared to be semen” in one of the toilets.
At the back of the school, deputies noticed a door that had been “pulled outward with enough force to break loose the center pillar and knock two screws to the ground.”
Deputies then went back to where they had dropped off Maroney and arrested him. He was booked into the Butte County Jail and appeared in court for his arraignment on Jan. 30 where the bond was set to $25,000.
During the arraignment, the court only found probable cause to charge Maroney with burglary “for breaking into Arco Elementary School with the intent to commit the crime of lewd conduct with a minor under 16,” according to the criminal complaint.
Maroney is scheduled to attend a preliminary hearing on Feb. 9. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
The post Man reportedly admits to sex crimes to store employees after breaking into schools appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com

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