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Background Checks

Census Worker Identified as Sex Offender

Before I get into this, I first want to say the census worker who came to my door was a kindly woman who I believe would cause no one any harm.  I am assuming that most census workers are just that; decent people who need a few bucks for working a limited period of time.

But not long ago I wrote one article that is entitled, Census Worker Rape Sets Controversy on Background Checks.   This article was in relation to a news report that a census worker allegedly raped a woman’s handicapped daughter.   Now here is another article on the website for NBC Philadelphia where a New Jersey woman recognized the census worker at her daughter as someone she saw on the state sexual offender registry.   As the agency overseeing census workers, conducts background checks through the FBI, I have to wonder…what gives?   In this case, the article reports, that the sex offender had apparently applied for the job under a different name.  His alias cleared the background check.  However, his fingerprints brought up the proverbial red flag, and he was discharged.

Ultimately, the man was arrested on charges of false representation and impersonating a public official, according to police.  So perhaps no harm was done to anyone, save for frightening the poor woman who recognized him on her doorstep.    And with some 600,000 of people being hired, it is possible that convicted felons and sex offenders, while undergoing background checks, may initially slip through the cracks.   Still, one thinks of the destruction this man could have caused.

I realize too that the census bureau had to get people out on the street.  But since there have been two incidents that I am aware of, one being the rape, the other this, perhaps workers shouldn’t be hired and fielded until they actually pass the requisite background check.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.

3 replies on “Census Worker Identified as Sex Offender”

I would like to interject a few things as food for thought. The term “sex offender” covers a wide range of things like, sexting, possession of child pornography, urinating in public, endangering the life of a child, rape, what is referred to as “the Romeo & Juliet group which encompasses two teens who have consensual sex and in some cases have married and have children and now due to the Adam Walsh Act and SORNA making past offenses retro-active to include them on the registry, teens getting drunk at a party and performing oral sex on someone under the age of 18 and the offender is 18 or above, people like Philip Garedo who kidnap and rape, and people like John Gardner who rapes, and then rapes and murders. I hope you are getting an idea of how broad based the registry is. Now imagine being a law enforcement person and being responsible for tracking “ALL” these people listed on the registry. Are the living too close to a school, are they living too close to a playground, do the go to the local library, do they attend the local college or university (college officials have to be notified they are going to be attending classes), and where are they working…if anyone will hire them. Many, many law enforcement personnel, many judges and many attorneys have said these registries are “OUT OF CONTROL” and are broken. Even John Walsh who pushed the registry said, “We didn’t intend the registry to be used the way it is!” He also said, “Let’s get rid of the current registry of 700,000 men/women and juveniles and list only the 10,000 violent offenders.” Even politicians have said the registries have gone too far but it would be “political suicide” to try to change it. What a statement and a shame! John Gardner was evaluated by a professional and the outcome was he was a “threat” to society and would prey on girls. That is the risk assessment evaluation that needs to take place in every sex offender case. Then other factors like first offense vs. repeat and age should be considered.
The last point I would like to make is the cost for each state to come into compliance, per federal law, with SORNA which is Title 1 of the Adam Walsh Act, this summer. Go to http://www.cfcamerica.org and you will be able to see what it will cost your state to get into compliance and how much Byrne money they will receive. Most states have determined they don’t have the money to spend on something that is already broken and doesn’t work. What do you think…..another “bailout” in the works? Look at the numbers for your state and contact your congressmen/women and tell them you don’t support spending billions and even 1 trillion in money we don’t have. Thanks

ASt Corra Group we review and advise clients as to whether a sex offense is violent or not. the “Romeo and Juliet Group” is always difficult, because, as you say, it is typically two consenting kids and, often, offended parents who are seeking recompense. But then there are the other concerns as to what is violent and what is not. Are flashers violent? On one level they don’t inflict any physical damage. But on the other, it is at least an intrusive act hat can cause psychological damage. Possession of child pornography is of course illegal and a potential red flag that those in possession may at one point choose to act out on their fantasies.

By far, the majority of sex offender hits we review are related to violent or transgressive crime. In the end I would rather have a broken system than no system at all.