Joshua Gardner

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Joshua Gardner FDLE photo.
Joshua Gardner FDLE photo.

Joshua Adam Gardner (born September 4, 1983) received media attention when he misrepresented himself to the students and staff of Stillwater Area High School as a fictional fifth Duke of Cleveland from England.

Student journalists became suspicious and began researching Gardner's story. They soon discovered his true identity and his listing in an online Florida database as a registered sex offender based on Gardner's 2006 Minnesota conviction for criminal sexual conduct with a minor. Students informed school authorities who contacted police. Gardner received a call from his probation officer and he promptly turned himself in for arrest. Gardner currently faces up to 21 months in prison for various probation violations related to his activities at the school, including contact with minors. [1] [2]

Contents

[edit] Visits to Stillwater Area High School

The 22 year-old Gardner visited Stillwater Area High School in Minnesota three times, telling students he was 17-year-old Caspian James Crichton-Stuart IV, 5th Duke of Cleveland. Using a "spot on" English accent, Gardner reportedly insisted that students, staff and even the principal call him "your grace" and expressed an interest in enrolling at the high school. Gardner also claimed he was 27th in line for the British throne and that he had been with Prince Harry when his father Charles told him his mother Diana had died.

Student journalists with the monthly Pony Express student newspaper became more suspicious when he reportedly misspelled the name of the castle he claimed to live in. They subsequently viewed several Internet sites including the "Earl of Scooby's" MySpace page, in which "Caspian" described himself as British and gave his goal for the year as "to not make the front page of any paper." A call to the British consulate in Chicago revealed that the Dukedom of Cleveland has been extinct since 1891. A new Duke of Cleveland, by peerage rules, would be termed the first Duke of Cleveland, third creation.

As part of the deception Gardner posted a fake article about his persona to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. However, the article was promptly deleted and the student journalists eventually discovered Gardner's true identity through the encyclopedia's deletion debate where he had placed his real name. Nonetheless, for months at least one unofficial Wikipedia mirror site (NationMaster) continued to carry the misleading content.[3]

Students subsequently found that in 2002 he had been convicted of 4th-degree criminal sexual conduct [4] for forced or coercive sex with a 14-year-old girl when he was 18. The students went to their faculty advisor with these discoveries and the school's police liaison officer was informed. On January 9, 2006 after receiving a call on his cellular phone from a probation officer, Gardner turned himself in to authorities and was booked in Mower County, Minnesota for violating his probation. [5]

After the charges were originally filed in 2002 Gardner had been released on his own recognizance and was placed on probation following his conviction. As of January, 2006 Gardner faced up to 21 months in prison for various probation violations related to his activities at the school, including contact with minors. School officials pointed out that Gardner had always been accompanied by a staff member during his visits and was not accused of criminal misconduct at the school[6]. Gardner subsequently apologized during an interview he gave in jail, saying:

“ "Becoming 'Caspian,' I was given respect...and people...don't look at you in that way that they would look at a sex offender ...I didn't mean to hurt anybody." ”

[edit] Sentencing

In June of 2006, Gardner was sentenced to 11 months jail time for violating his probation stemming from a 2003 incident where he coerced a 14 year-old into sex. Gardner was not charged with a crime in Stillwater, only charged for his unsupervised contact with minors and using the Internet without permission. [7]

[edit] Subsequent charges

On July 6, 2006, Gardner was arrested and charged with molesting a 15-year-old boy in Chanhassen, Minnesota during the summer of 2005, several months before the Stillwater High School incident. Carver County prosecutors say Gardner used the same fake identity with the Chaska High School student, who came forward after seeing media coverage of Gardner in January. Gardner was arrested on three sexual-conduct charges, including two felonies. [8]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Sex offender - Joshua Adam Gardner, Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Sexual Offender/Predator Unit flyer (November 2005)
  2. ^ Austin man charged in sex assault, Winona Post (2002)
  3. ^ "The Abrams Report" interview transcript
  4. ^ Minnesota statute defining 4th-degree criminal sexual conduct
  5. ^ Minn. Students Find 'Royal' a Sex Convict, My Way News (AP story), January 16, 2006.
  6. ^ Claim of royalty, a con revealed, St. Paul Pioneer Press
  7. ^ http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/14820423.htm
  8. ^ http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_187095859.html

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


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