Friends -
My manager has heard from a teacher/friend at the local public school that one of the families in our community have two children that are sex offenders. They’ve been molesting a younger brother. None of this shows up on http://www.familywatchdog.us because the kids are 15 and 19 (the 19 y.o. apparently commited his crime 3 years ago when he too was a minor).
We do not allow sex offenders in our community. We’d like to verify this information to be true, but probably no one will go on the record with us because juvenile records are sealed. What are our next steps?
Thank you,
-jl-
Jefferson,
This is a delicate situation because A) there is no actual proof of the incidents B) you are dealing with minors. This really is a matter that the police should be handling. Have you talked to the police to see if they have any info on this family or if such incidents have been reported before. Also, you may want to talk to the school. If they are aware that a child is being molested I would think that they would report it (dont know how schools are these days).
Of course you do not want this in your park but I would not recommend doing anything yourself against this family. If you are wrong this could come back horribly against you. I would talk to the police and see how they would handle these types of situations. Perhaps if they talk to the school and have enough suspicion they could investigate the family.
After they make a determination on the matter then you could address the issue as the park owner. But I would let the police handle the matter initially.
Just my opinion.
Don’t touch this matter without the direct involvement of a competent attorney representing you every step of the way. This sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. I would not do one thing without the attorney handling it 100%. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Howard -
My understanding is that the school has denied these students enrollment because of charges against them. We believe the 19 year old is just living at home (too old for high school now). We are unclear if the parents are home-schooling the 15 year-old, or just neglecting his education and letting him hang around at home.
If these charges are true, then the school is well-aware that these kids are no good, and no children at the school are at risk. That said, there are children in our community…
-jl-