Two stories hit my in-box this morning and they could not be more frightening. The first is pure negligence. We have written about contractor background checks in the past, this is a great example of lax policy.
Sex Offender Found Working at School
Police caught on to Brown after arresting him on multiple felony counts of indecent exposure to at least five women and one child in the State Line Avenue/I-30 area of Texarkana, AR. Brown also faces failure to register as a sex offender charges in both Arkansas and Texas.
TISD educators say they were not aware of Brown’s criminal past. Brown was not directly employed by the school district. He worked for a construction sub-contractor installing lighting in Texas High’s new performing arts center. TISD superintendent James Henry Russell says Texas law only requires the district to do background checks of workers who have direct contact with students. Brown did not have contact with students, according to Russell.
Brown remains in the Miller County Jail awaiting his first court appearance.
The second story makes you wonder who is paying attention on the Texas State Medical Board????
Editorial: Sex offender should not hold medical license
Few yardsticks in life are better than the headline test. Try it on this one: “Sex offender keeps license to practice psychiatry.”
It gets worse, as in: “Doctor’s offense involved a 10-year-old neighbor.”
To say that something is out of whack in state law is an understatement. The case involves Dr. William Olmsted, a child psychiatrist who pleaded no contest to a molestation charge in Dallas County but was able to skate past the State Medical Board with his license intact, albeit with restrictions.
Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, has vowed to look into the matter, and we’re encouraged that he will. Those who have a state license to treat people at their most vulnerable must be beyond reproach. Those listed on the state’s sex-offender registry could not fit into that category.
