NY- Notorious sex offender dies after losing control of car

10-7-2008 New York:

SLATE HILL— William Fox was not known as a Vietnam vet; instead it was his level 2 sex offender label that made him infamous here.

Fox died Friday when he lost control of his car in his driveway, according to his wife, Margaret Fox. She believes he died from a heart attack or stroke. He was 58.

In recent months, the community has been in a panic about Fox, after word spread that he allegedly followed a school bus full of children on Greeves Road.

-Notice, no police report of even checking this out..

A resident placed a flier with Fox's mug shot and details of the incident, as well as state police insignia and contact information for the state police investigator, at the Ridgebury Deli a few weeks ago.

-If one was to check the law this is illegal, only the police are permitted to do this..

Fox was convicted of first-degree sexual assault in 1994 for abusing two girls, ages 10 and 11. The crime occurred in Orangetown, N.Y. In September, after hearing rumors about Fox following a school bus, the Minisink Valley School District sent a letter to parents as a precaution. District officials never received confirmation from police that this incident actually occurred.

Margaret Fox called the school bus encounter a coincidence.

"He was going down the road and just before he turned, a school bus turned in front of him," she said.

"They've been hysterical, and he didn't get out of the car or say anything. It's been a Salem witch hunt."

When Courtney Dolce heard talk about Fox following a school bus, she went to the state sex offender Web site and showed his picture to her 10-year-old daughter.

"It's one of those things you always think will never happen in your neighborhood, and here it is around the corner from me," Dolce said.

In an e-mail, Mary Doyle, co-chairwoman of the Minisink Elementary PTO, said the security of the county was shaken by news of Fox and his activities.

"A few months ago, we would let our children run ahead at the park or at the ball field," she wrote. "Now, we hold them by the hand."

Fox spent 20 years in the U.S. Army. He was a special forces medic in the Vietnam War and served three tours in Cambodia, his wife said.

Details overshadowed by his crime. ..News Source.. by Ashley Kelly