This is one of the more nauseating stories I've read lately about a member of the "1 Percent."
Ted Rollins is the CEO of Campus Crest Communities, a builder of student housing that has received Wall Street support that now is in the $400 million to $500 million range. Campus Crest has 33 properties near universities around the country, so Ted Rollins markets his services to young people and their parents.
So it is grimly ironic that Rollins once was convicted for the assault of his stepson, who was then 16 years old and (according to a report from his mother) weighed about 100 pounds. Ted Rollins was about 6-4, 230 at the time, so it doesn't sound like it was a fair fight. It also sounds like it was a flagrant case of child abuse, although the justice system did not treat it as such.
Per the Legal Schnauzer blog, from a report based on North Carolina court documents:
Ted Rollins, CEO of Wall Street darling Campus Crest Communities, was convicted of assault in the 1995 beating of his stepson. . . .
A judge in Franklin County, North Carolina, found Rollins guilty of simple assault, a violation of Section 14-33(a) of the North Carolina General Statutes. Rollins was sentenced to probation, fined $100, charged $65 for court costs, and $250 in restitution to Franklin Regional Medical Center. (Various court documents related to the case can be viewed at the end of this post.)
We will take a detailed look at Ted Rollins' arrest and conviction for assault in upcoming posts. But for now, it seems clear the criminal-justice system treated Rollins in a stunningly gentle fashion. Perhaps that's because he was head of American Textile Services, one of the largest employers in and around Louisburg, North Carolina, when the beating took place on September 9, 1995.
Our research shows that, under North Carolina law, the beating should have been reported to social-services officials as a case of probable child abuse. Based on the description of an eye witness, Sherry Carroll Rollins, the beating inflicted serious physical injury and should have been treated as a felony.
Sherry Rollins now is divorced from Ted Rollins and lives in Birmingham with the couple's two daughters, Sarah and Emma. Zac Parrish, Ms. Rollins' son from her first marriage, was 16 when he became the target of Ted Rollins' wrath--and it remains unclear what sparked the beating. In fact, Zac Parrish denied to me in a phone conversation that the beating happened.
Public documents show that Zac Parrish's memory is a bit faulty. The beating did, in fact, occur--and it raises questions about the fitness of Ted Rollins to be CEO of a company that conducts business nationwide at mostly taxpayer-funded universities. What kind of support does Rollins have from financial heavy hitters? Here is an idea:
Despite his criminal record, Rollins leads a company that in late 2010 completed a $380-million IPO on Wall Street. Campus Crest Communities has gone on to build, manage, and market student housing to young people at 33 universities around the country. With a preferred stock offering in the works--and it's expected to generate another $55 million--the company appears to be in growth mode.
As a member of one of the nation's wealthiest families--the folks behind Orkin Pest Control and its parent company, Atlanta-based Rollins Inc.--Ted Rollins has access to significant financial clout. Public documents show that Campus Crest's IPO and its latest stock offering were arranged by such investment heavyweights as Raymond James, RBC Capital Markets, Barclay's Capital, and Citigroup. Among the lead investors in Campus Crest are Cohen and Steers Capital Management, Wellington Management Company, and Neuberger Berman.
Major legal players also are at Rollins' disposal. Birmingham-based Bradley Arant and Chicago-based Sidley Austin, the sixth largest law firm in the country and one of the oldest firms in the world, were deeply involved in preparing the stock offerings for Campus Crest Communities.
Did any of the financial and legal big hitters bother to examine Ted Rollins' background before sinking millions of investor dollars into his venture? If they had, they would have found some deeply disturbing stuff.
Here are links to some of the documents that provide details about the ugliness in Ted Rollins' background. Are Wall Streeters aware of this information? Are they intentionally ignoring it?
Court Document: Ted Rollins Arrested for Assault
Court Document: Ted Rollins Convicted of Assault