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Census Worker Rape Sets Controversy on Background Checks

In the course of a given day there may be any number of solicitors coming to your door.   In most cases, it is Benign where they just want to either sell your something or convert you to their religion, their way of political thought.   It may be annoying, but  essentially it is no big deal.

And then you have the case  in Indiana of the census worker who is accused of raping someone’s disabled daughter.  According to the Indy Channel.com, the accused rapist is reported to have started working for the Census Bureau a couple of weeks ago.   The alleged assailant is reported to have left his wallet laying on the 21-year-old woman’s  bedroom floor.

Census workers undergo background checks conducted by the FBI.  These background checks are comprehensive with regard to any criminal records.   The applicants are fingerprinted and then the records are matched against the FBI’s database.   The Bureau also verifies the applicant’s social security number.  The Census Bureau rejects any applicant where his background check does not meet with its standards.

Most Census workers are highly reputable and diligent people.  The biggest danger they pose is maybe boring you with some of the more insipid but requisite questions on the Census Survey.  That’s how it goes.   But then there are the exceptions.   There are not only the exceptions with respect to Census Workers, hardly a high risk lot, but also with contractors and laborers who may be working in your home.

In many cases, as possibly is the case with this accused Census worker, the potential assailants may not have a previous criminal record.   A background check may tell you nothing of prior criminal or past sexual offenses.   But for whatever reason they suddenly get it into their heads to act out and commit rash and terrible acts.   This may have been the case here.

I would suggest running background checks on anyone working in your house.  Nannies, housekeepers,  handymen, whatever.  Of course, with Census Workers they should have been previously vetted.   As I noted, they are.   But then here is a case where perhaps suddenly something he has never done before appeared as a good idea.   It is a terrible situation, and in some cases, they can’t all be avoided.

A pity.

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.

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