By Karen Florin
The Day
NEW LONDON, Conn. — Andre Bishop, convicted in 2005 of sexually assaulting a 13-year old girl in Groton, wanted to open a Facebook account upon his release from prison.
His probation officer said no, but he created an account anyway, and it landed him back in prison Monday on a violation of probation charge.
The 42-year-old Bishop, formerly of Groton, had been living in Hartford after serving six years in prison for second-degree sexual assault, according to an arrest warrant affidavit on file in New London Superior Court. After he began serving 10 years of strict probation in 2011, he signed a Computer Access Agreement in which he agreed he would not enter or participate in any bulletin boards, instant messaging or chat rooms or use any Web-based email program that provides the user the ability to remain anonymous.
Nevertheless, Bishop twice asked his probation officer if he could create a screen name on Facebook. Twice the probation officer said no, according to the affidavit.
Bishop was arrested Tuesday after Groton City Police notified his probation officer that Bishop had opened a Facebook account. A caller had tipped off the police to the new account, and a city police officer who had investigated the 2005 sexual assault recognized Bishop in one of the photos on the social network site. Bishop had opened his account under the screen name “Dre’ Smoo V Bishop,” according to the court document.
In the underlying sexual assault case, police had received a complaint that a 13-year-old girl was sneaking out of her house and secretly meeting with Bishop. When police interviewed Bishop, he told them he met with the victim several dozen times where he engaged in sex with her.