The Reporter-Herald, in Ft. Collins, Colorado reports that a former Thompson School District employee, who slipped through the cracks on a background check, will spend 10 years in prison for fondling a young girl. He should be doing about fifteen years in prison, I suppose with possible time off for good behavior.
This assault occurred prior to the former employee taking the job with the school district. However, there was another conviction back in the eighties. But that conviction somehow was not listed on the state criminal records database.
One has to wonder how so many background checks seem to fall through the cracks. Can we chalk it up to shoddy research, or do the supervising parties fail to read the background check reports or just give it short shrift. In this case, honestly, it may be that many databases do not necessarily report older criminal records. Most employers who conduct county criminal background checks usually order them for the past seven to ten years. Many FCRA and state rulings prevent employers from considering criminal records previous to that period.
But then one wonders, if this employee was convicted, why did he fail to come up on the sex offenders registry? In this case , there were not only convictions but other occurrences where charges were not filed due to the statue of limitations concerns. Odd.
It is always difficult when we see these kinds of news stories. Aside from missed convictions on background checks, someone has fallen prey to the sexual assailant. Besides the school board’s embarrassment and possible liability issues, someone else has gotten hurt because the assailant gained proximity to his victims. And that is the real issue.
