School Volunteer Convicted of Child Abuse

Penny West served as a volunteer every day at an elementary school in Tucson, Arizona, despite being found guilty of child abuse under circumstances likely to cause death in early August

Tucson Unified School District volunteers are not subjected to fingerprinting or background checks. Rather, they must disclose their criminal histories, and then the decision whether or not to allow a person with a criminal history to volunteer is left up to the principal of the school.

West and her husband, Randall West, will be sentenced on September 22nd. Both face prison time. The jury found that West acted with criminal negligence when she did not seek medical attention for the 16-month old foster child in her care. Pathologists determined that the little girl, Emily, died of blunt-force trauma to her head. West claims that Emily fell backward and hit her head, which the defense doctors said was plausible. The state's doctors contended the injury was a result of being severely shaken or that Emily was struck with something in the head.

The principal of the school where West volunteered, Chad Knippen, agreed to be a character witness on behalf of Penny West, but was never actually called to do so at the trial. He explained that West has been helping the school for years with filing, copying and putting bulletin boards together. She did not work directly with the students.

Tight budgets are a large reason why schools utilize volunteers to assist them with many tasks. However, if schools become more reliant on volunteers, they also need to rely on background checks to protect children.

Belmont Heights Little League Learns to Run Background Checks

When the umpire of a game for the Belmont Heights Little League in Tampa, Florida failed to show, a man by the name of Byron James Simmons came out of the stands and offered to volunteer to call the game.

Artis Gambrell, president of the little league, recognized the man and coached him in the league when he was young. Simmons' own 10-year old son even played on the team as a second baseman. Gambrell acknowledged that he knew Simmons would know how to call the game and allowed him to volunteer. He did not run a background check because league rules, at that time, did not require one.

A quick background check would have revealed that Simmons was a repeat offender and it only would have taken just a few minutes to complete. Tampa police are now reporting that Simmons raped a 10-year old girl at a park in his van last weekend.

Again, had the league run a background check, they would have revealed that Simmons violated probation stemming from being convicted of possessing a firearm when he was in school. He was then given 270 days in jail. In 2003, he was convicted of the sale and possession of cocaine as well as lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor in between the ages of 12-15 years old. Simmons was given 5 years in prison with credit for time served. Furthermore, he has been arrested for aggravated assault, gambling, theft of a vehicle, marijuana possession as well as fraud.

Gambrell stated that until the present, coaches and other personnel were given background checks, but volunteers, normally parents, were not. The league is going to run background checks on everyone from here on out.

While Simmons didn't register as a sex offender until April of this year and began volunteering in February, a background check would still have picked up his criminal record and prevented him from volunteering.

Bill in Minnesota Would Require Background Checks for School Volunteers

A bill in Minnesota is currently on its way to the Governor of the state. The bill would require criminal background checks for certain volunteers working in schools. Some school districts are fighting this change.

Opponents of the bill have cited costs as one of their reasons for not conducting background checks, saying the school districts would not be able to afford them. Opponents also state that criminal background checks would scare potential volunteers away who may have had DWI convictions. The concern is that schools will lose needed volunteers.

Some school districts, however, are in support of the bill and feel that background checks are especially important on sports activity volunteers. They say not all criminal offenses would disqualify a person from volunteering, but the districts need to have correct information to make informed decisions.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously and passed in the House with 112-15. It is now awaiting the signature of Governor Tim Pawlenty who has expressed his support of the bill.

The requirement would include background checks on all coaches and adults who assist with extracurricular activities in schools, either employees or volunteers. It would not apply to volunteers who read to children in classrooms or who help out with other classroom activities.

Registered Sex Offender Tried to Coach T-Ball

Anthony Littleton Cannon, 30, is a registered sex offender in Gulfport, Mississippi. This spring, he volunteered to help coach a T-ball team of children, ages 4 to 6 years old. Cannon is registered in accordance with the law, but failed to give written notice to the organization.

Cannon’s step-son plays on the team and someone at the ball park recognized him as a registered sex offender on opening day, March 29th. Cannon had volunteered to help coach the Yankees, a team within the Gulfport Youth Sports Association.

The association President, Ricky Dombrowski, logged onto the sex offender website and located Cannon after he had been made aware. He said, “…there he was. If we had known about his conviction, we wouldn’t have allowed him to volunteer.”

This experience has prompted the association to now require criminal background checks on all coaches, assistants and volunteers and will charge a $6 fee for doing so.

Cannon was convicted on three counts of sexual assault involving a teenage girl when he was 20-years-old. This occurred in Denton County, Texas in 1998. State law does require registered sex offenders who want to do volunteer work to notify the organization in writing.

Sheriff Melvin Brisolara and Dombrowski said they have no reason to believe Cannon had any inappropriate contact with the children. Dombrowski said, “Had we known, I think we would have allowed him to come to the park to watch (the child) play, but we would not have allowed him to be involved with anything else.”

Cannon was arrested for failing to give written notice of his previous charges on April 16, 2008, and he was held at the Harrison County jail on a $25,000 bond.

Registered Sex Offender Found Volunteering in Kindergarten Class

A man volunteering at Harloe Elementary School in Arroyo Grande, California was discovered as having been a registered sex offender. He was discovered after one of the children’s parents, who works for the local police department, recognized the man’s name.

The man did not appear on the Megan’s Law website because his offense was considered low-level, and a “low-level” designation does not require that an offender’s name and photograph be listed on the website. He was arrested at Pirate’s Cove in 2001 for indecent exposure.

The school sent a letter home with children notifying parents that a sex offender had been supervising their children. Principal Juan Olivarria reported the man was never left alone with the children, and that no incidents have been reported.

A simple background check would have prevented this occurrence from happening. Even the local police department was surprised that no background check was completed. The school has stated that the man is no longer volunteering and is not allowed on the school campus any longer.

NJ School Volunteer Background Checks Bill Signed Into Law

Schools in Trenton, NJ are finally allowed to do background checks on volunteers thanks to a new law signed into effect on May 4^th. The law, dubbed the “School Volunteer Background Checks bill” will allow school boards, as an independent entity, to decide whether they want to check the criminal histories of their volunteers.

The background checks would cost tax payers $85 each, which is obviously a bargain for the piece of mind that comes with knowing that the volunteers at your child’s school don’t mean harm. As Sen. Nicholas Sacco, (D-Hudson) put it, “With all we hear in the news with child molesters and other others who mean harm toward children working in different child-serving groups, we can't be too careful when interviewing volunteers".

Some states have similar laws, allowing criminal background checks, or National Sex Offender database checks for volunteers, because we really can’t be too careful.