Multiple registered sex offenders arrested at NC Mountain State Fair, deputies say

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — Deputies arrested multiple registered sex offenders at the 2022 North Carolina Mountain State Fair.

According to Major John Ledford with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), deputies arrested four men currently listed on the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry.

“It was during the course of the fair, and it was early on in the fair, because once the word kind of gets out that we’re checking for that, we hope that’s a deterrent for others,” Ledford said. “There’s no indication initially they were there for nefarious purposes, but we don’t know their intent on coming. Just the fact they’re merely on site is enough to violate the statute.”

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Claude William Thomason, 31, Dustin Scott Bullman, 41, Charles Andrew Graves, 45, and Jason Wilson Rowland, 53, were all arrested and charged for violating North Carolina General Statute 14-208.18 - concerning sex offenders unlawfully on premises.

“As part of the registry, they have to confirm and initial that they, in fact, understand that they cannot be on that premises during the operation of the state fair,” Ledford said. “It is specifically contained in the statute that lays out the North Carolina [Mountain] State Fair is off-limits.”

Law enforcement officers were able to recognize and identify the men as they entered the fairground gates, said Ledford.

“We have specific personnel who are assigned as part of our special investigation unit who handle the sex offender registry, so they know a lot of these people on site,” Ledford said. “They’re responsible for verifying addresses. They interact with them quite regularly.”

New this year, Ledford said about half-a-dozen law enforcement agencies partnered up to patrol for a number of criminal activities – both in uniform and undercover.

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“Our detective units [were] on scene, our drug units [were] on scene, our sex offender unit [was] on scene,” Ledford said. “They’re operating behind the scenes to make sure that everybody is kept safe while they enjoy the fair.”

The months of planning, Ledford said, paid off.

“Madison County had persons there, Henderson County, Transylvania County and of course Buncombe County,” Ledford said. “This was a pretty massive undertaking.”

All four registered sex offenders have since bonded out of jail. According to the state sex offender registry, none of them have had previous statute violations – until now.