Montreal school hired convicted sex offender

In a case that’s raising questions about teacher hiring practices, a Montreal-area teacher with a criminal record has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a student.

Math teacher Daniel Paquin, 53, pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student. Read More

Prisoners of their past

As a certified nurse’s assistant, Valerie Ford had no trouble finding work with the growing number of nursing homes in North Carolina.

But then she was arrested for cashing a check made out to an ex-boyfriend. Now, free after eight months in prison, she can’t land a steady job.

The 39-year-old mother of two has lost count of the applications filled out in the past year, not only at nursing homes, but also hotels and discount department stores. Read More

Sex Offenders in Nursing Homes

A Southside nursing home is being sued after witnesses say an elderly woman was raped by another resident. Sources recently confirmed that the perpetrator was a convicted felon prior to his admittance to the home. It has been four months since the family of Virginia Thurston announced they were suing Southwood Nursing Home. Their 77 year old mother, who is now deceased, was raped in her bed by a resident with a criminal record thirteen pages long.

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SC Board of Medical Examiners supports criminal background checks for new docs

(Charleston-AP) Nov. 3, 2004 - The state Board of Medical Examiners has tentatively agreed that new doctors should undergo criminal background checks just as those in some other licensed professions, including nurses. State lawmakers still must approve the idea before it can become law. Board spokesman Jim Knight says the idea was developed over two years. It has attracted new attention recently after the case of West Columbia alternative medicine physician Doctor James Shortt. Read More

New school background checks to add to burdened system

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Many newly hired school employees must undergo criminal background checks as of Jan. 1, adding to the load of an already backlogged system.

The state overhauled its system for dealing with abused and neglected children this year, and part of the changes include requiring criminal background checks for all new school employees who have contact with children, which could include everyone from teachers to cooks and janitors. Some school districts also are choosing to have their existing employees checked.

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Background checks ensure student safety

All school leaders are learning a lesson about background checks from one Memphis-area school. The need for in-depth background checks has become of a greater importance after the assistant principle for Hanley Elementary School in Orange Mound, Tenn., was charged with first degree murder Nov. 5. Vern Braswell, who was hired and later promoted by the school district although he had a criminal record, is charged with murdering his wife. Although Braswell has not been convicted of any felonies, he has been charged with other crimes, such as assault, theft and false imprisonment. Read More

Most workers face background check

If he’d been up for a job as computer programmer, Wally Backman might never have been in this mess.But the big boys in Major League Baseball can play by different rules.Backman, 45, was fired Friday from a job he never technically held because he still hadn’t signed the $500,000-a-year contract the Arizona Diamondbacks offered him earlier in the week to manage the baseball team. Read More

Assembly OKs bill on background checks for key jobs

By TOM BALDWIN Gannett State Bureau TRENTON With Gov. James E. McGreevey on his way out of office in the wake of a scandal involving an affair, apparently with his underqualified security adviser, the Assembly Monday approved a measure to guarantee background checks for sensitive jobs. The lack of a background check for Israeli Golan Cipel helped cascade scandal onto McGreevey, since he had placed Cipel in his $110,000 post as the governor’s homeland security mentor. Read More

Volunteers OK with background checks

OLYMPIA — A new Olympia School District policy requiring volunteers to fill out a criminal history questionnaire and agree to background checks has met with approval from school volunteers. Read More