Man poses as student to ride school bus with teen he’s accused of raping, AL cops say
A man from Florida is accused of pretending to be a teenage high school student to get onto a school bus and meet a 15-year-old girl, Alabama police said.
An alert teacher at Enterprise High School called police on Sept. 27 when they noticed an adult man on a shuttle bus that was transporting students from the Enterprise Career and Technology Center back to the high school, according to news releases from the Enterprise Police Department and Enterprise City Schools.
The high school’s resource officer was notified and met the man while still on the shuttle, police said.
On the bus was 23-year-old Dennis Wimberly of Pompano, Florida, according to police.
Detectives learned Wimberly had a previous sexual encounter with a 15-year-old girl at the high school, and the teen helped Wimberly get onto the bus to come and meet her, police said.
Wimberly and the teen also exchanged sexual materials leading up to his arrest, according to the release.
Police did not reveal how the 15-year-old girl and Wimberly met or when their interactions began, but said they had “maintained an online relationship,” Captain Billy Haglund told McClatchy News in an email.
“ECS does not take situations like this lightly and understands the concern that a situation like this can cause for our students, parents/guardians and staff members,” the district said in the release. “School officials are reviewing bus loading procedures and protocols in light of this incident.”
Wimberly was taken into custody and charged with second-degree rape, trespassing of a school bus, transmitting obscene material to a child and possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.
Enterprise is about 90 miles southeast of Montgomery.
This story was originally published September 29, 2023 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Man poses as student to ride school bus with teen he’s accused of raping, AL cops say."
