BABY-FACED COP POSES AS STUDENT IN DRUG CASE

Police intend to seek more than 54 criminal charges against eight current
and former students at the Roanoke County school, as well as five adults.

A Roanoke County police officer posed as a 17-year-old student at Northside
High School for 10 months to expose drug use and dealing, authorities said
Friday.

As a result of the investigation, dubbed "Operation Babyface," police
intend to seek more than 54 criminal charges against eight current and
former students as well as five adults. Police also plan to submit the
names of more than 50 students to the county schools' substance abuse
counseling program.

"We know who we're going to charge," Lt. Mike McGuire of the Roanoke County
Police Department said. "These numbers are conservative. They're only going
to go up."

Among the drugs the undercover officer bought were LSD, marijuana, ecstasy
and OxyContin, a prescription painkiller.

Police intend to begin filing charges against the students next week and
bring the adult cases before a Roanoke County grand jury Friday, McGuire
said. Most of the charges include selling drugs or imitation drugs and
conducting sales on school property. The adults involved were the ones
allegedly supplying the students drugs, police said.

Only a handful of people inside the Roanoke County school system knew about
the operation while it was going on. School Board members didn't learn of
the probe until Thursday night, and teachers were told on Friday. The "deep
undercover" operation wasn't even known to the majority of the police
department.

Roanoke County police said they came out of the investigation pleased that
drugs aren't as pervasive as they had thought. Although the undercover
officer identified more than 50 students as being drug users or bragging
about doing drugs, only a minority were dealing, police said.

"Northside came out looking pretty good," said Sgt. Chuck Mason, supervisor
of the department's vice unit. "Northside wasn't brimming with drugs - it
was a small segment of the population. Not nearly as bad as rumor and
gossip made it out to be."

The investigation's main goal was to target drug dealers, not users,
although the suspected users will be recommended for the school's Student
Assistance Program, which provides voluntary alcohol and drug abuse
counseling for students. The undercover officer found no evidence of gang
activity or weapons on campus.

The investigation developed from information that Officer Tim Miles, who is
assigned to the school, submitted to the vice unit last October. Miles said
he had learned about drug sales among students. Although the selling seemed
to be largely occurring off-campus, Miles found that the sales were being
networked and negotiated during school.

Unbeknownst to Miles, the vice unit in December placed a 24-year-old
officer inside the school. According to Mason, Officer K.L. Moulton
enrolled as a 17-year-old junior who had just moved from Northern Virginia.

Moulton was a new hire, having just come from the Lynchburg Police
Department. Police Chief Ray Lavinder thought Moulton would be a good fit
for vice work after noting the officer's youthful appearance. Now 25,
Moulton looks about 15.

The police department asked Friday that the officer's sex not be identified
because the investigation is still continuing. After attending Northside
for nearly six months, the officer went to summer school at William Byrd
High School, which provided the basis for additional operations.

For 10 months, the officer, using a fake name, attended classes, did
homework, wrote papers, attended sporting events, and went to parties.
Moulton made friends, ate dinner at students' houses with their parents and
hung out at the mall. Moulton did so well in school that Mason had to tell
the officer to tone it down a bit and not come off as being so smart.

One of the most challenging parts for Moulton was getting in with the crowd
that dealt drugs. At the beginning, a student was assigned to show Moulton
around.

"I knew it wasn't going to get me anywhere," Moulton said Friday. "I had to
find a way to get away from the kids who were being so nice to me. It
wasn't too hard. Kids were passing me notes and asking me if I partied."

Moulton carried a pager and a cellular phone and wore baggy clothes,
tie-dye and "lots of Grateful Dead T-shirts" to fit in. Kids accepted the
new student, and no one suspected otherwise.

For Moulton, the operation was a success, although the officer admits some
people will be angry. Moulton hopes that most people, including students
and their parents, will understand.

"Some will probably feel betrayed," Moulton said. "Certainly they might not
know who to trust anymore. But hopefully it scared some kids straight. It's
going to send such a message. Hopefully it'll have an impact on the county
for a while."

Jerry Canada, chairman of the county School Board, said the board had given
the school superintendent the authority to take the necessary steps to keep
drugs out of school. Based on what board members have been told, Canada
said he thinks top school administrators acted appropriately.

"We have said all along that we would do what we could to keep drugs out of
the schools, and I would hope that people would support what has been
done," Canada said.

Northside's principal, Allen Journell, knew of the operation, as did
Superintendent Linda Weber and her predecessor, Deanna Gordon. Gordon was
superintendent when police approached administrators about their idea.

"We thought they had a good plan and knowing the School Board's high
priority on keeping drugs out of schools, we agreed to cooperate," Deputy
Superintendent James Gallion said.

Gallion said there was no indication that the drug problem at Northside was
any worse than any other high school in the county. Northside was chosen
for the operation at Officer Miles' suggestion and because he already had
good evidence, not because it's a "hotbed for trouble," Mason said.

"I honestly don't think what we found is atypical to what we'd find at
other county schools," Mason said. "The good we found in that school far
outweighed the bad."

Canada said the length of the investigation also showed that the drug
activity at the school was not extensive. "If there had been a lot of drug
activity, there would have been more arrests," he said.

But Moulton, who will be assigned to a regular patrol shift in a few weeks,
said there was a lot more curiosity about drug use than the officer thought
there would be. If someone couldn't provide drugs themselves, that student
could usually point Moulton in the right direction.

School officials will follow prescribed disciplinary procedures for the
suspension or expulsion of students who are convicted of criminal charges
related to drugs, Gallion said.

Staff writer Joel Turner contributed to this story.