A Villager has won his freedom after an illicit visit to his neighborhood pool.
William Scott Ragains, 63, who lives in the Alexandria Villas in the Village of Belle Aire, was released at 6:14 p.m. Tuesday from the Sumter County Detention Center where he had been held without bond since Aug. 17. He had been jailed due to a violation of his community control.
Ragains’ probation officer went to his home at 3420 Roanoke St. on July 26 after he was sent home early from his job at the The Back Porch restaurant at Mulberry Grove Plaza. The terms of Ragains’ community control allowed him only 30 minutes transit in departing for and returning from his job at the restaurant. At all other times, Ragains was required to be home under the court-ordered house arrest after his conviction in a 2019 gun threat in a roundabout in The Villages.
When the probation officer arrived at Ragains’ home, Ragains’ son answered the door and said his father was not home. The probation officer was aware that Ragains had been sent home early from his job. The son called his father, who claimed he was at work. The probation officer took the phone and told Ragains he was aware he had been sent home early from work. That’s when Ragains “admitted he was at the pool,” according to the probation officer’s report.
Ragains, who has been living in the villa owned by his wife, claimed he was “doing good” in the merit-based program and he “has been a role model offender,” according to the probation officer’s report. The report notes that Ragains has completed some aspects of the sentence, including an anger management course and a letter of apology to his victim.
Ragains had been convicted in 1980 of drug possession in Virginia.