Boardman police arrest sex offender trespassing on Boardman Center Intermediate School

Staff Report

BOARDMAN

A registered sex offender from Youngstown will be arraigned at 5:30 p.m. today in Mahoning County Area Court who faces several charges, including criminal trespassing at Boardman Center Intermediate School on Market Street.

Township police arrived on the scene about 8 p.m. Tuesday when a caller alerted them about James Allen, 36, of Winchester Drive, who was walking in front of the school, according to a police report.

Allen reportedly approached the school property to ask a teacher for bus fare. Officers located Allen walking south on Market Street and arrested him. A search revealed he had $7.30 and a WRTA bus pass, contradicting his reason for asking the teacher for money.

A background check revealed Allen is a registered sex offender. He was convicted of soliciting a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity in 2013.

Allen also has a history of soliciting without a permit, including an arrest earlier this month begging for money at a township CVS Pharmacy and in November 2016 at Weston Center in Austintown.

Police charged Allen with criminal trespassing, attempted theft and soliciting without a permit. He is in the Mahoning County jail.