criminal record check, guy now working with children

[hyperman89]

hello everyone. I used to know a guy a few years ago.

He was what I realise now, a sociapath, an oh so convincing evil person.

He drove like an absolute maniac, 90 mph in 30 zones, 150 on the motorway, crashing into bollards doing handbrake turns, overtaking a car already stopped at red traffic lights and a young family was halfway across so missed them by inches.

He also committed arson, attacked a guy in the street [who allegedly lunged at him] but didn't, shouted and pushed his girlfriend until she wanted to kill herself, blew up fireworks in an enclosed public space, deliberately followed two young girls home in a car whilst handbrake turning and then tailgating them repeatedly.

He got arrested and thought it was funny, and in court got sentenced [though not a prison one] to do community work and a suspended sentence for two years, meaning if he did anything wrong in that time span he'd get sent down.

Well, I found out recently that he has now got a job looking after children.

He also seems to have passed the checks needed to do this.

He is EXTREMELY convincing when he wants to be, he can fool anyone who doesn't know him, so I'm thinking maybe he's fooled whoever ticks the check box to make sure the people are safe to look after kids.

It's either that or our criminal record system is ridiculously short term based. The offences were only a few years ago so I can't understand how a serious offence and multiple arrests would warrant a 'yes' for looking after children. What are your thoughts??:furious:

 

[King_Oni]

If what you state are all facts, then yes, it's worrysome. But perhaps he's good with children. I've known people that one could state were totally out of their minds, yet they had skills in certain fields that made them a valueable asset. But that's a small group.

The thing in general with these kind of "incidents" is, that they happen. If the interview goes ok, if he meets all demands that are required to get that position, he is good to go. Should there be a more in-depth background check? Should there be more psych evaluations? Perhaps. Who is going to pay for those? Blame cutbacks and rising expenses to do more in-depth screenings for individuals like him to slide through the cracks and end up with positions that might be a risk.

Besides, you already state he's a sociopath... well, this is what sociopaths do. If he wasn't convincing he didn't fit that title I guess. Then he'd probably fall through the cracks easier.

But hey, consider this; a lot of people in upper management have sociopathic tendencies... especially upper management people. And they do their jobs.

With his record I don't know if working with children would be the best thing, but perhaps the one doing the assessment with him has good reasoning for that. Maybe this guy was convincing... but here's another option to make it even more messed up; what if, the guy who did the assessment was just as much of a sociopath as him and would think it's funny to put a guy like him with children just to see how messed up it'll be. These people exist... some people thrive to create misery upon others. And by putting someone in a position and pulling a few strings it might just as well be a good laugh for them as well.

Also, there's a lot of bureaucracy in most countries. Even if he is convicted or was in the past, there are probably rules and regulations that state that a person should reintegrate into society and into the full workforce. And since a job with children is a accepted form of employment, these cases of bureaucracy state that anyone who qualifies can do this job. And apparently this good sir meets the criteria.

What else would you have this guy do? Looking at your story, I don't know if someone like him should work construction either... perhaps he'll mess up something that will in the end cause an accident or structural collapse. If he's in a store, he might steal from the store himself. I mean, the list is endless.

 

[Soup]

This guy seems like the sort who may be a very convincing sociopath in some ways BUT he is hampered with VERY poor impulse control & little ability to predict & understand the gravity of the consequences of his actions. I wonder if he would've found getting arrested so funny had he committed an offense serious enough to ensure prison time? Part of the reason for his glib amusement at the situation may be that he knows just how close he can get to 'the red line' before getting truly zapped. He is able to float between the area where the justice system will truly get him & the area where he can flout the law: in other words, he knows exactly how far he can go. Many troublesome teens are like this: they know exactly what they can likely get away with in a particular setting (at school, with mom, with other kids...)

As for him working with children, he is not the person I would want to have around my kids. As a teacher (& I formerly operated a licensed pre-school & daycare) police bkgd checks often provide people with a false sense of security. I know of a colleague who used to be a gov't daycare inspector. She would show up at daycare centres out of nowhere to do an on the spot assessment. These assessments were rigorous & certain violations (like too many kids per teacher) would get you slammed shut on the spot & fined heavily. Staff records (bkgd checks) were also verified as were their other qualifications (up to date first aide certificates, defibrillator certification, CPR training, what degrees you had...) were also verified.

Here's the thing: as soon as 1 place got a visit, someone would duck into a washroom & send an urgent message to EVERY other centre in the area to warn them that the inspectors were passing over the next few days. Places would literally be rushing their 'surplus' kids out the back doors to some park or even someone's house. Lunches that were sitting on shelves were hastily crammed into the fridge, disinfectant was speedily wiped in strategic places making the centre seem much cleaner than it actually was, staff members who were unqualified headed for the hills to hide themselves & the excess kids...All kinds of violations were commonplace. THis is partly due to the fierce demand for daycare spaces & the low salaries highly trained educators receive. THe system itself breeds violations,

THe worst daycare/childcare educators I saw were ones who would pass all bkgd checks: they were clever & manipulative enough to NOT get caught: they choose the right people to victimize (those who will not tell) & never do anything in front of a witness. THese types are not driven to show off like the guy above: they just want to do what they want to do. I've seen & learned about things involving mishandling of kids in educational settings that I cannot unlearn & unsee. So far, this guy has been arrested for stupidities. Nobody is dead, maimed, raped or divested of their fortune due to him. He has no record of ever harming a child in any way nor of influencing a child or teen to do something dangerous or illegal. While I would not hire him if I knew of his record or if I knew him as a person, I can see where he could put on a suit, act contrite & explain away his misdeeds (driving too fast, being a crappy boyfriend & fighting with someone) as the folly of a youth he has left behind. If he can convince someone that he's grown up, learnt his lesson & changed his ways, he would get hired: especially with a relatively clean bkgd check.

Even if you SAW him do something bad to a child, without any hard evidence, his word would trump yours. If you DID see him do something to a kid & you did not report him to the authorities, you would have as much explaining to do as he would! Also, labeling someone as a sociopath is a serious allegation. It takes serious long term assessment & observation of a person to draw such a conclusion. The behaviours you describe above are disturbing & may indeed be indicative of sociopathy BUT they may also be the stupid behaviours of an intoxicated, badly raised, possibly angry & irresponsible youth. He may lack boundaries & need them, he may conversely have been handled to severely & be rebelling or he may be deeply insecure & trying to overcompensate by being the tough bad boy type to impress his peers. Many things could be going on. Drugs & booze can alter a person's mind to where they behave in ways they never would even recognize in themselves when sober.

Do you know if he was diagnosed as having a mental illness or personality disorder? That could influence his impulsivity & judgment as well. Some people with mental conditions can become quite stable & reliable with the support of therapy & the right medications: I had a university professor who was a paranoid schizophrenic! You would never have known it unless he told you so. He mentioned it to the class as part of a lesson on the subject & he also had a twitch that he said was a side effect of the meds. When he described his off-meds self, it literally was another person entirely! Had he not had support, education & medication, he would've been another street guy with plastic bags on his feet & a pie plate on his head!

I hope it turns out that this guy has straightened out, for the sake of the kids in his care.

 

[hyperman89]

he has stolen from workplaces, and he did get promoted to management on more than one occasion, he told me he had had allegations of theft made against him by the higher management of some places but now I can see he was likely lying to me and HAD stolen from them, since he abruptly decided to quit before the true investigation took place and he moved address within a day of that. He got kicked out from home when he was 15 he told me as his dad left the family on their own so perhaps it is a bit of rebellion against his father but he fits all the traits so well of sociapathy, [if that's the word], he even talked his way out of a ticket when he was caught driving that speed between traffic by saying to the officer how sorry he was and crying, then when he got back into the car he told me the officer'' was a mug'' and laughing how he got away with it.

Then when I told him I didn't want to be friends anymore he didn't just leave it and say ok, a car suddenly began beeping outside my house at 2am before wheelspinning away or revving the engine, I knew it was him because he'd always done that same beep beep, beep beep beep to other people he didn't like from his past, particularly ex girlfriends. And mysteriously another ex friend of his had his work's back door mysteriously superglued one night, just after a nasty online conversation where the guy tried to be friendly towards him but he told him he wasn't interested. I appreciate we may be in a recession but I dislike the fact that he is allowed to just pass these tests without a proper check being done