Sex Offender Had Record In Virginia

A sex offender arrested last month in Decatur had been charged about nine years ago in an incident at a Virginia beach.

Robert McKenzie, 47, was arrested in Norfolk, Va., for "exposing himself and then beginning to masturbate in front of an 11- and 26-year-old at a local beach," said Norfolk police spokesman Christopher Amos.

According to Virginia court records, McKenzie was arrested Aug. 13, 2002 and pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor charge of "taking indecent liberties with a child." Court records said the case was resolved July 16, 2004, but no information was immediately available on his sentence.

That conviction required McKenzie to be listed on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Sex Offender Registry, where his status on Wednesday was listed as "incarcerated."

He was arrested in Decatur July 20 after someone reported McKenzie had touched a child at Glenlake Pool. Fulton County Police arrested McKenzie in Decatur of violating the terms of his probation as a sex offender, which required that he not have contact with children. He remains in Fulton County Jail; no bond had been set on Wednesday.

Before his arrest, McKenzie was often observed around Decatur riding his bicycle and often yelling or mumbling incoherently, often chasing lone women cyclists and joggers, police said.

Decatur Deputy Chief Keith Lee says his department continues to investigate McKenzie's activities, but officers have not found evidence of further crimes in Decatur.

“Nothing we have found yet gives us probable cause that a crime occurred here, other than the probation violation for being at the pool,” said Lee.

The Decatur Police will compile information on McKenzie to give to probation officers who can present a full picture of his activities when he appears at a probation hearing, Lee said.

In March 2010, Atlanta police arrested McKenzie for carrying a knife with a blade over three inches long and in violation of city ordinance, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. His arrest followed complaints by cyclists that a man, described as homeless, had been following women as they jogged or cycled in the city.

During the 2010 arrest, an Atlanta police officer "disposed of 'contaminated' rags and pornographic pictures that McKenzie had in his pockets," according to a police incident report that was quoted by the AJC.