Sex offender moves out of Raleigh neighborhood where victims live

A man who pleaded guilty to molesting young girls at his north Raleigh home in 2006 said Friday that he has moved out of the neighborhood where some of his victims still live.

Posted 9:12 p.m. Aug 10, 2012 — Updated 2:29 a.m. Aug 11, 2012

RALEIGH, N.C. — A man who pleaded guilty to molesting young girls at his north Raleigh home in 2006 said Friday that he has moved out of the neighborhood where some of his victims still live.

Donald Cameron's decision to move comes less than two weeks after his return sparked outrage from the parents of victims and frustration from a Wake County prosecutor.

"Yes, I'm gone," Cameron told WRAL News via email Friday afternoon.

Cameron, 65, has also been asked not to return to the Church of the Apostles building off St. Albans Drive, Rev. Patrick Dominguez said Friday. The church had set up special rules before allowing Cameron to join in 2008, but Dominguez said Friday that Cameron had not followed those rules and had broken the church leadership's trust.

"Our safeguards include things like you can't sit near children, and that was something that Don had done," Dominguez said, adding that Cameron admitted to breaking rules after being confronted in early August.

In a letter to the church on Aug. 2 that was prompted by WRAL's report, Dominguez reassured members that rules were in place to keep children safe. Two days later, he sent an update to the congregation informing them that Cameron would no longer be allowed on the grounds.

"I heard back from one of the congregation members that Don had indeed violated one of the parameters," Dominguez said. "When we found that out, that was a clear violation of our trust."

Despite Cameron not being allowed on church grounds, Dominguez said Friday that the church would continue to minister to him off-site.

"We want to be both welcoming and gracious and say God can change anybody, but at the same time we want to be wise and say there's no guarantee," Dominguez said. "We want to show him the love of God and reach out to him."

Cameron began attending the Church of the Apostles in 2008, when he was still on probation after spending eight months in jail for molesting four neighborhood girls in the front yard of his Shadowbrook Drive home.

Two incidents occurred in March and April 2006, and two incidents allegedly occurred more than 10 years previous to that. A student at North Raleigh Christian Academy, where Cameron volunteered in the music library, and a student from another school also claimed Cameron molested them.

Authorities have said he may have been molesting girls for 30 years.

Cameron was not allowed near his victims while on probation. However, after it expired in late July, he moved back to the neighborhood where some of the girls – now teenagers – still live.

In December 2009, a new state law took effect allowing courts to order convicted sex offenders not to have contact with their victims for the rest of their lives, but no such protection exists in cases prior to that date, Wake County Assistant District Attorney Melanie Shekita said in late July.

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