Sep 30 2009
Miami Adult Entertainment: System puts felons in caregiver jobs
FORT LAUDERDALE – Flaws in Florida’s background screening system have put children, seniors and the disabled in the care of felons with records that include rape, child molestation and murder, according to an investigation by the Sun Sentinel.
State law requires employees of day care centers, assisted living facilities and group homes to undergo a background check, but they can begin work before the screening is complete, the paper reported this week.
At least 2,400 day care workers were on the job before their records turned up, including a Tampa man with this note in his screening record: “EVIL DUDE-RAPE+KIDNAP+SEX ASLT,” a statewide database of screenings since 1985 shows.
Hundreds of people in Hillsborough County charged with offenses such as theft, prostitution, robbery, arson and other crimes received state exemptions to care for children, elderly and the disabled, according to the newspaper’s databases.