Former Avery student resource officer

convicted in federal sex crime investigation

BY MELANIE MARSHALL

A former Beech Mountain police officer, who also served as an Avery County School Resource Officer, Michael Bruce Darcy, 45, of Boone, was convicted Tuesday in federal court in Asheville on charges of transporting an individual across state lines with the intent of engaging in sexual activity.

Darcy was arrested in February following an FBI investigation. The incident occurred in May 2007.

Investigators said Darcy transported a 15-year-old female across state lines and engaged in sexual intercourse with the girl.

Darcy faces a mandatory sentence of ten years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on the two sexual charges. The date for the sentencing phase of the trial has not been set.

U.S. District Court Judge Lacy H. Thornburg presided over the trial and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimlani M. Ford and David A. Thorneloe of the Western N.C. District prosecuted.