Accountability WatchFebruary 2026 roundupVerified-source shortlist

Accountability Watch — February 2026 Roundup

Search window: February 1, 2026, 12:00 AM ET through February 28, 2026, 11:59 PM ET. This page is a disciplined catch-up shortlist focused on authority, access, and institutional accountability.

Framing note

Allegations are not findings of guilt. Entries are included because the approved case set involved public trust, school or youth-program access, law-enforcement authority, child-facing professional roles, or civic legitimacy.

Monthly pattern

At a Glance

February’s strongest cases clustered around schools, youth sports, law enforcement, and child-facing therapeutic roles.

The Aliceville matter stood out as a multi-person institutional cluster involving police and school personnel.

Federal Project Safe Childhood cases provided the strongest source base for pleas and sentencings.

Several entries involved non-registrant institutional actors, with no prior registry history mentioned in the source material.

Accountability frame

The approved February set is concentrated in schools, youth sports, law enforcement, and child-facing therapeutic roles. Political and public-role entries were fewer but high-salience because they layered public legitimacy onto alleged or proven misconduct.

School, youth-program, coaching, and institutional-access cases

New Arrests & Charges

Xaviour Smith

Prince George’s County Public Schools employee / youth dance academy founder

Feb. 19, 2026

Maryland / federal

IndictedRegistry: No prior registration noted

Federal prosecutors say Smith was charged in a child-exploitation case involving minors. DOJ also identified him as the founder of a youth dance academy serving ages 8–18.

Why included: School-system employment plus youth-program leadership created a trust-and-access profile around minors.

DOJ / USAO Maryland

Andre Scione

Warhill High School teacher / former Toano Middle School employee

Feb. 23, 2026

James City County, Virginia

Arrested / ChargedRegistry: No prior registration noted

James City County police said Scione was charged after allegations involving three WJCC students, with conduct alleged to have begun when the students were at the middle school where he previously worked.

Why included: The official account describes an educator/student nexus and alleged abuse of school-based access.

James City County Police

Scott Marino

Malden Public Schools teacher and basketball coach

Feb. 25, 2026

Massachusetts

Arrested / ChargedRegistry: No prior registration noted

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said Marino was arrested in an alleged assault case involving an 18-year-old known to him and was also charged with furnishing alcohol to a person under 21.

Why included: Included because the approved set treats the educator/coach authority role as central, even though the alleged victim was not described as a student.

Middlesex DA

Caminion Gary, Antonius Belgrave, Winston Bishop, Roderick Granger, Lakethia Wilkins

Aliceville police officer and four school faculty members

Feb. 18, 2026

Pickens County, Alabama

Arrested / ChargedRegistry: No prior registration noted

Local reporting, citing prosecutor and school-system statements, described arrests involving an Aliceville police officer and four school faculty members in a child-exploitation and minor-related abuse investigation. The school district reported personnel actions.

Why included: This is an unusually concentrated institutional cluster involving both law enforcement and school personnel.

ABC 33/40 — DA / school statements ABC 33/40 — ALEA follow-up

Dennis Johnson Jr.

Former Arkansas High School coach

Feb. 20, 2026

Texarkana, Arkansas

Arrested / ChargedRegistry: No prior registration noted

Texarkana Today reported that Texarkana Arkansas police described a juvenile outcry, warrant review, and charges tied to Johnson’s position of influence as a coach at Arkansas High School.

Why included: The police account cited by local reporting makes the coach/student authority-access logic explicit.

Texarkana Today / TAPD account

Danielle Weaver

Former Lee County High School teacher

Feb. 18, 2026

Leesburg / Lee County, Georgia

Arrested / ChargedRegistry: No prior registration noted

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Weaver was arrested after allegations involving a juvenile student at Lee County High School.

Why included: Direct teacher/student authority-access nexus, supported by an official state investigative source.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation

Benjamin Shroats

Figure skating coach / former coach of Olympian Amber Glenn

Feb. 18, 2026

Collin County, Texas

Arrested / ChargedRegistry: No prior registration noted

PEOPLE and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported Shroats was arrested in Collin County after allegations involving former skating students. The reports describe an ongoing Allen Police investigation.

Why included: Youth-sports coaching access and the February arrest window make the case relevant, with source-strength noted because an official written release was not located in the initial pass.

PEOPLE NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Federal and court-resolved cases inside the February window

Pleas / Convictions / Sentencings

Joseph Garofalo

Assistant high school lacrosse coach

Feb. 5, 2026

Long Island, New York / federal

Guilty pleaRegistry: No prior registration noted

DOJ said Garofalo pleaded guilty in a federal child-exploitation case and identified him as an assistant high school lacrosse coach at the time of the offense.

Why included: Youth-coach authority role plus a large multi-victim exploitation pattern in a federal Project Safe Childhood case.

DOJ / USAO EDNY

Matthew Ozol

Former teacher

Feb. 11, 2026

Jersey City, New Jersey / federal

Guilty pleaRegistry: No prior registration noted

DOJ said Ozol pleaded guilty to possessing illegal materials involving minors. Investigators also cited messages about children as part of the federal case.

Why included: Former educator with a child-exploitation offense and no prior-registration history noted in the source material.

DOJ / USAO New Jersey

Renee Hoberman, also known as “Rina”

Licensed social worker / child and adolescent mental health counselor

Feb. 20, 2026

Long Island, New York / federal

SentencedRegistry: No prior registration noted

DOJ said Hoberman was sentenced to 84 months in a federal case involving illegal materials involving minors and identified her as a licensed social worker.

Why included: Child-facing therapeutic trust role combined with a federal child-exploitation offense.

DOJ / USAO EDNY

Otilio Green

Former Yale University police officer

Feb. 27, 2026

Connecticut / federal

Guilty pleaRegistry: No prior registration noted

DOJ said Green pleaded guilty in a federal child-exploitation case and was employed as a Yale University police officer at the time of the offense.

Why included: Law-enforcement authority role, qualifying offense, and a meaningful plea inside the February window.

DOJ / USAO Connecticut

Public-role and civic-legitimacy cases

Institutional / Political Misconduct

Andrew LaBruno

Former Dumont mayor / Jersey City police sergeant

Feb. 24, 2026

Bergen County, New Jersey

IndictedRegistry: No prior registration noted

New Jersey Globe reported LaBruno was indicted in a minor-involved abuse case that also includes an official-misconduct allegation tied to his police status while on duty.

Why included: High-salience political and law-enforcement authority case with an official-misconduct allegation.

New Jersey Globe

Naheed Ejaz and Diwan Khan

Former Bracknell Forest mayor and former mayoral consort

Feb. 11, 2026; council statement Feb. 13, 2026

Bracknell Forest / Winchester Crown Court, U.K.

ConvictedRegistry: No prior registration noted

Bracknell Forest Council said Khan was convicted of a serious sexual offense and Ejaz of obstructive conduct. The council stated the crimes were not committed in their civic roles but involved former public figures.

Why included: Public-profile and civic-legitimacy case with a qualifying sexual-misconduct conviction and related accountability statement.

Bracknell Forest Council

Follow-up points

Watchlist

Xaviour Smith — federal case posture after indictment; watch for detention rulings, superseding charges, and institutional notice questions.

Aliceville cluster — additional charges, school-district personnel actions, and whether a stronger official written release becomes available.

Joseph Garofalo — sentencing and any victim-count updates from FBI or DOJ.

Andrew LaBruno — arraignment, official-misconduct count, and disclosures about alleged use of police status.

Benjamin Shroats — official court or police records needed to strengthen the source base.

Danielle Weaver — next hearings, indictment status, and any Lee County school-system accountability disclosures.

Legal and registry note

Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Charges, indictments, and arrests are allegations, not findings of guilt. Registry notes are limited to the reviewed source material: “Registry status not mentioned” is displayed as “Registry: No prior registration noted” to preserve the series’ prevention-policy framing without inventing registry history.