OPERATION BABYFACE TEEN AVOIDS MORE TIME

The Teen-ager's Counselor, Xavier Hairston, Said The Former High School
Student Is Making Progress.

A 16-year-old former Northside High School student charged in last year's
Operation Babyface sting won't have to serve any more time in juvenile
detention but will be closely supervised, a judge decided Thursday.

The teen-ager was one of nine students charged in connection with the
operation, which placed Roanoke County police Officer K.L. Moulton
undercover as a student at Northside and William Byrd high schools for 10
months to catch drug dealers. Moulton also submitted names of about 50
other students to the schools' substance-abuse counseling program.

All the students pleaded guilty or no contest to various drug charges. Of
the four sentenced so far, three have pulled jail time. But Thursday in
Roanoke County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Judge Philip
Trompeter said the detention time the 16-year-old served was enough.

Trompeter warned the boy, however, that he'd be keeping a close eye on him.

"I don't want you doing any of this stuff, so I'm sticking with you until
your 18th birthday," Trompeter said.

The teen was taken to detention last fall after he tried to hide from
police trying to serve warrants on charges of selling marijuana and
conspiring to sell marijuana, according to Roanoke County Commonwealth's
Attorney Skip Burkart. At a December court hearing, the teen was taken back
to detention after testing positive for marijuana and cocaine.

In all, the teen was in juvenile detention about a month.

But when he showed up for sentencing on Thursday, the 16-year-old showed
signs of trying to turn himself around, Burkart said. A probation officer
and the teen's counselor also testified that the teen was showing progress.

"He's doing an excellent job," said Xavier Hairston, a counselor with the
juvenile court system's day reporting program. "He seems to be making a
conscious effort. ... He seems to be working in the right direction."

The teen is about a month into the 120-day program and is receiving
counseling in anger management and substance abuse, Hairston said.

The teen told Trompeter that he decided to help himself - and let others
help him - because he realized it was useless to fight the system.

"I'm just truly sorry for what I've done," he said. "I can't change it ...
I can just learn from it."

A few weeks ago, he added, a friend called and the teen told him he
couldn't be around his old buddies any more.

Trompeter, in ordering the intensive supervision program, told the teen
he'd be subject to regular drug screenings and would have to continue
counseling. Trompeter said he'd also keep the case under advisement for the
next 18 months and bring the teen back into court in July to see how he's
doing.