BENTONVILLE -- A former school administrator was arrested last week after being accused of violating the terms of his requirements as a registered sex offender.
Mark Oesterle, a Level 3 sex offender, was being held Monday in the Benton County Jail on a $275,000 cash-only bond.
Oesterle, 50, of Elm Springs was arrested in connection with 20 counts of failure to comply with registration and reporting requirements. Prosecutors haven't filed any formal charges against him.
He was assistant principal at Springdale's Har-Ber High School in 2014-15 and and assistant principal at Springdale's Tyson School of Innovation in 2015-16. The Fayetteville School District hired him in 2016 as its director of federal programs and English language learner programs; he was promoted to director of secondary education in 2017 and stayed in that position until he resigned in March 2019.
Oesterle was accused of touching the breasts of teen girls in 2015, during his time as an assistant principal in the Springdale School District, according to court documents. The allegations didn't become public until 2019.
He pleaded guilty in 2021 to one count of second-degree sexual assault that involved three victims. He was sentenced to 72 months of probation and required to register as a sex offender.
Oesterle is required to register at the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
He registered Sept. 27, 2021, with the Sheriff's Office and all sex offender rules were explained to him and any of his questions were answered, according to a probable cause affidavit. Oesterle has made contact with the Sheriff's Office 22 times to add, change or update his registration paperwork, according to the affidavit.
A Sheriff's Office detective received a report Oesterle had been on a school campus on June 19, according to the affidavit.
Detectives seized four electronic devices from Oesterle and obtained a search warrant to examine the devices, according to the affidavit. The examination revealed unregistered social media accounts on the devices, the affidavit states.
Oesterle is accused of failing to report 18 accounts to the Sheriff's Office, according to the affidavit.
He had appointments June 6 and June 20 at the Sheriff's Office and didn't provide any of the 18 accounts and claimed everything was correct on his registration, according to court documents. He's accused of twice falsifying his documentation, according to court documents.
Oesterle was observed June 19 by GPS monitoring at Har-Ber High School, according to court documents. He was prohibited by a court order on March 21, 2022, from going on a school campus, according to the affidavit.
Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren set the $275,000 bond at Friday's hearing. He ordered Oesterle to give his passport to the Sheriff's Office and not travel outside the United States, according to court documents.
Karren prohibited Oesterle from going to schools and ordered him not to have contact with any minors except his biological children.
Oesterle's arraignment is set for 8 a.m. July 24 in Karren's court.
Oesterle was also arrested in March 2022 in Washington County related to violating his registration requirements. He is charged with two counts of registered offender entering a school campus. Oesterle's trial in that case is set for Aug. 7.
Washington County prosecutors are also seeking to revoke Oesterle's 2021 probation.