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Sex offender accused of trying to pass as 'royal' student

Last update: January 12, 2006 - 5:10 PM

He posed as a prospective student and tried to pass himself off as a member of a royal family from Europe -- until some student journalists uncovered his past.

Police said "Caspian" visited Stillwater Area High School three times. He told students he was 17 and that he was "Caspian James Chrichton Stuart the Fourth," the "Fifth Duke of Cleveland."

At the school newspaper, student journalists thought that if "Caspian's" story were true, it would make an interesting feature.

Their research led them to a website called the "Earl of Scooby" where the "duke" said his heritage was British and his goal for the year was "to not make the front page of any paper."

Chris Lennox, principal of Stillwater Area High School, said today that "Caspian" was brought to the school by a student.

School officials met with "Caspian" and provided him with information about the school, and allowed him to visit some of the classes and meet students, including some on the school newspaper.

He made an impression almost immediately.

Lennox said "Caspian" started talking about another identity and telling stories.

"Name dropping. Inferring he knew royalty, inferring he had connections to other famous celebrities," Lennox said. "That was when the kids were starting to go 'Now, wait a minute.' The stories just kept getting bigger. Fish tales."

The school newspaper adviser brought the journalism students' concerns to other staff members. By Monday they had gone to law enforcement authorities, who did additional research. It turns out that "Caspian" is 22-year-old Joshua Adam Gardner, who was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in Winona County in 2003. Gardner also is listed on the Florida registery of sex offenders.

He's now being held on a probation violation.

Lennox says there's no indication that Gardner assaulted or seriously bothered anyone at the school. None of the students expressed any sense of danger about him, Lennox said.

Gardner's visits were supervised and structured, Lennox said.

"It was very different from someone wandering onto the campus," he said.

Information from: Scott Goldberg/KARE-TV, http://www.kare11.com