FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2010
KLMNO
EZ RE Laws fail to prevent sex offenders from working in schools
Inadequate checks and missed red flags partly to blame, study finds
BY NICK ANDERSON
People with a record of sexual misconduct are often able to land positions in public and private schools as teachers, support staff, volunteers or contractors, slip- ping through a system of back- ground checks meant to thwart them, federal investigators re- ported Thursday. Among the 15 cases the Gov- ernment Accountability Office re- viewedwas that of formerManas- sas teacher Kevin Ricks, who pleaded guilty this year to abus- ing a male student and faces other sexandpornography charg- es related to his long career in education. The Washington Post in July disclosed questions about Ricks, his school employment re- cord, and allegations that he made sexual advances toward boys inMaryland, Virginia,North Carolina and Japan. Eleven of the 15 cases, the GAO
reported, showed that offenders who had previously targeted chil- drenwereable to obtain positions in schools. “Even more disturbing,” the
report concluded, they were able in at least six cases to use those positions to abuse more children. The report found: lAn Ohio teacher who worked
in multiple public schools from 1993 to 2006 was forced to resign from one position because of in- appropriate conduct with female students but received a letter of recommendation from his super- intendent.Hethenlandedajob in a neighboring district, where he was convicted of sexual battery against a sixth-grade girl. lA teacher and registered sex
offender who had lost his license in Texas was hired by Louisiana schools in 2006 and 2007 without undergoing a criminal back- ground check. There is a warrant for his arrest on charges that he engaged in sexual conversations with a student. lAn Arizona public school
hired a teacher in 2001 after fail- ing to conduct a criminal back-
Go
ground check. The teacher had been convicted of sexually abus- ing a minor. Subsequently, he was convicted of having sexual con- tact with a young female student. “This report is horrific and incredibly troubling. It is very clear from GAO’s work that there was a major breakdown in the schools highlighted in this report — and quite possibly, in many more schools across the country,” said
Rep.GeorgeMiller (D-Calif.), chairman of theHouse Education
and Labor Committee, who re- quested the investigation. The GAO compared a national
sex offender registry with em- ployment databases in 19 states and the District from 2007 to 2009. It also examined public records and interviewed officials involved in dozens of cases from 2000 to 2010 that led to criminal convictions. The report found at least three
reasons why people with back- grounds of sexual misconduct
could get hired. First, many school officials
whofind misconduct allow teach- ers to resign quietly rather than pursue termination. Some offi- cials said termination would be costly and time-consuming and would expose their districts to litigation. “One administrator told us that it could cost up to $100,000 to fire a teacher, even with a ‘slam dunk case,’ ” theGAO reported. In three cases, the GAO found
that school officials provided pos- itive recommendations or refer- ence letters for teachers who vol- untarily left but would have been subject to disciplinary action. Suspected abuse, the GAO found, was not always reported to law enforcement. Second, school officials some-
times fail to perform criminal background checks before mak- ing hiring decisions. Even when they do, those checks can prove inadequate. Some schools only
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search criminal databases within their state and therefore miss convictions elsewhere. Third, schools sometimes fail
to notice red flags. The Arizona offender was hired even though he had answered “yes” on a job application aboutwhetherhehad been convicted of “a dangerous crime against children.” There was no indication that school officials followed up on that mat- ter.
andersonn@washpost.com
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