An Arizona State senator is calling for action in the wake of the arrest of a registered sex offender, who repeatedly violated probation and walked onto a school campus and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl.
Arizona State Senator Janae Shamp is outraged over what she says is “a catastrophic system failure that allowed a registered sex offender, 25-year-old Abel Gblah, a Level 2 sex offender on lifetime probation, to trail behind a student being buzzed into Orangewood Elementary School where he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl.
According to Phoenix Police, Gblah is alleged to have falsely claimed to be a doctor, gained access to the campus, and then led a 10-year-old girl into an empty classroom where he sexually assaulted her.
According to media reports, Gblah’s history reveals a long pattern of violations and missed intervention opportunities including multiple missed probation check-ins, unauthorized smartphone use, viewing pornography, lying about contact with minors, violating a protection order, leaving Arizona without permission, being arrested in Miami and jailed, missing 22 sex-offender treatment classes, being discharged from treatment, receiving a highest-risk intervention assessment, and being released from jail just ten days prior to the assault. Despite this pattern, he repeatedly received “slap-on-the-wrist” consequences—leaving him free to access a school and harm a child.
This case comes after Senator Shamp successfully championed several major child-protection laws signed into law over the past two sessions:
• SB 1232 — Classifies sexual conduct with a minor 12 or younger resulting in serious physical injury as a Class 1 felony, punishable by natural life imprisonment
• SB 1236 — Requires additional Level 1 sex offenders convicted of Dangerous Crimes Against Children (DCAC) to be listed publicly on the state sex offender website
• SB 1404 — Requires schools to be notified when a parent at that school is a registered sex offender convicted of a DCAC
Shamp says these laws have strengthened Arizona’s approach to sex offenders—yet the Orangewood case exposes dangerous gaps that must be closed.
“I am beyond angry and disgusted about what has been reported. That 10-year-old girl’s life will never be normal now. This is such a system failure. A dangerous predator with a long list of violations was allowed to roam free because the system refused to take his risk seriously,” said Senator Shamp. “I have passed some of the strongest laws in America
against child predators, but this tragedy proves more work must be done immediately. I will pursue every legislative solution necessary to fix these failures and ensure no high-risk offender ever slips through the cracks again.”
“This alarming incident highlights the deeply troubling reality of a convicted sex offender repeatedly violating probation and entering a school environment, placing our most vulnerable children at risk,” said Beth Goulden, Chair of the Arizona Sex Offender Management Board. “We must return to rigorous supervision, swift interventions, and
proactive protections to ensure these violations never give offenders access to potential victims. When systems fail to monitor and sanction those who violate probation, the public – and particularly children – bear the consequences.”
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