http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=117965&catid=339 (http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=117965&catid=339)
Apparently this person worked for one of the vendors and was fired when someone brought it to the faire's attention.
But what got my attention was this: the faire representative (JP's lawyer) said they DON'T do background checks on the employees (including cast) because it only employs about 150 high school and college students for the summer (I know a LOT of people who work at faire who aren't either, and so do all of you).
But the other thing, and this made me laugh, was that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation does not require CRF to do background checks because it "deals with a broader age group" than just children.
What made me laugh about this is that the faire has gotten tamer and tamer every year so that they can attract more families (with their children). It's positively milquetoast except for the adult acts (washing well wenches, Iris & Rose, for example).
This raised my ire due to a situation that my daughter was involved in - she worked for a Subway store where the owner claimed he did background checks but really didn't. It became an issue when his assistant manager (who had a long criminal history, including violent crime) raped and nearly murdered a fellow employee - my daughter had gone to the store and found the beaten employee and helped police find the asst manager.
I'm appalled that with so many children at the grounds, and anything can happen, that the faire isn't doing background checks for the sketchiest of reasons.
"According to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, he did everything right when he moved, he registered and wasn't restricted from having access to children. That is why 9NEWS is choosing not to name the man or show his picture. The man's criminal record shows a 2001 conviction in Minnesota. His crime was punishable by one year in prison and a fine."
The video report said "prison OR a fine"
Wonder what the actual crime was.
Since the person was not employed by the fair, but by a vendor I wouldn't think it was CRF's responsibility to have done a background check.
Of course the -really- honest answer would have been "we don't think it's cost effective to do background checks on a couple thousand participants, most of whom are unpaid, part-time volunteers"
sex offender n. generic term for all persons convicted of crimes involving sex, including rape, molestation, sexual harassment and pornography production or distribution.
who says a sex offender might not be a teen or college student? sex crimes are not limited to children being the victims, even though those types of predators have a special place in the universe (in my mind) and it ain't pretty.
it would be in the best interest of CRF or any other 'family venue' to do the CYA and run background checks. unfortunately, it's just the way our world is... these types of crimes have been going on since we were created, we just hear about them now.
You can also be a convicted sex offender for peeing outside.
Quote from: groomporter on June 19, 2009, 09:26:23 AM
Of course the -really- honest answer would have been "we don't think it's cost effective to do background checks on a couple thousand participants, most of whom are unpaid, part-time volunteers"
I think this gets to the heart of the issue - the cost of a CBI background check is about $40 (I've had to pay for them several times for some types of work I've done). Multiply that by 1,000 volunteers and that gets into real money.
True, the person was employed by a vendor, but CRF's response was "we don't do background checks" on the CRF employees either. It's not CRF's responsibility to do them for vendors but as a matter of public safety perhaps that should be either a requirement to work for a vendor or that CRF adds it to the vendor charges and does it themselves. To take the risk that some child (or anyone else) could be hurt by someone who has a criminal history is to take a very big risk.
coming from a bean counting background... it's an overhead expense and i'm sure could be budgeted in.
if a wal-mart can go through the expense of locking down a store when a child is missing, the faires can at least do a little thing such as a background check.
we practice due dilligence when it comes to our son while in the faire and camping there, same as any other time. just because a faire might do background checks, we still wouldn't let our guard down around anyone.
I don't know speaking as a crafter at MNRF, it seems a little overkill. Unless it's their first year at a fair, most crafters rarely just hire a stranger off the street the way a mainstream employers do, usually we approach a friend for help, or get a referrals from someone who already works at fair, someone who's already part of the fair community.
Ok, what is the big deal?
Personally I am more worried about being around drunk people with swords than about someone who probably groped someone's buttocks on a train.
Sex offender registries are an example of stupid politicians and over-reacting citizens putting something to law which doesn't address the real problem. I have a list of people in the area who groped someone buttocks on a train but the murderer living next door who got paroled from prison is totally unaware to me, lol.
I know who in the neighborhood might want to fondle me if the lights go off yet I have no idea who just stole my new car (didn't actually happen).
Regards,
CB
Quote from: groomporter on June 19, 2009, 10:37:50 AM
I don't know speaking as a crafter at MNRF, it seems a little overkill. Unless it's their first year at a fair, most crafters rarely just hire a stranger off the street the way a mainstream employers do, usually we approach a friend for help, or get a referrals from someone who already works at fair, someone who's already part of the fair community.
it is the the faire itself that i was referring, not necessarily the vendors.:)
and even though we all hope that references are a good way to go, we still have to be watchful. just like i would probably watch the cash drawer with a newcomer if i had a shop; even though they were referred to me....of course my husband says i'm just mean, lol! ;D
Quote from: Awen on June 19, 2009, 10:00:31 AM
Quote from: groomporter on June 19, 2009, 09:26:23 AM
Of course the -really- honest answer would have been "we don't think it's cost effective to do background checks on a couple thousand participants, most of whom are unpaid, part-time volunteers"
I think this gets to the heart of the issue - the cost of a CBI background check is about $40 (I've had to pay for them several times for some types of work I've done). Multiply that by 1,000 volunteers and that gets into real money.
As you pointed out, you paid the fee for several of your jobs. As have I. It doesn't have to be the company's responsibility to pay for those 1000 workers. You simply could include it in the contract for performers. Unfortunately, it takes a few weeks for it to be processed, and if you don't get your contract until June, you might not be cleared until Late July.
Also, since the staff (vendors and cast) at Faire don't have unsupervised contact with minors (or at least are not supposed to) it stands to reason that they needn't be background checked. The only people I might make an argument for are the trampoline guys, and anyone that works in the Children's Realm, but only because they have closer contact with kids. Maybe the Llama people. And even then, it's not supposed to be unsupervised contact. A parent should be right there, watching. And I think that's the difference in requiring background checks and not.
Quote from: Bonny Pearl on June 19, 2009, 11:01:03 AM
Quote from: groomporter on June 19, 2009, 10:37:50 AM
I don't know speaking as a crafter at MNRF, it seems a little overkill. Unless it's their first year at a fair, most crafters rarely just hire a stranger off the street the way a mainstream employers do, usually we approach a friend for help, or get a referrals from someone who already works at fair, someone who's already part of the fair community.
it is the the faire itself that i was referring, not necessarily the vendors.:)
No, it was the post prior to yours that suggested putting in on the vendors, -or on a second reading at least passing the fee on to crafters. (Since I have a large staff to demonstrate our games that would add
hundreds of dollars to my fees unless it was limited to people who work the entire run.)
-Heck there's a couple vendors I've known over the years who I'ld like to run a background check on, if you're going to require it, wouldn't it have to be universal?
What they haven't stated was if this fellow was/has been working at the Fair previously at all? If he has been, all of a sudden it has become a problem?
In the fairs case, I can see that doing background checks might turn up dirt, and suddenly find themselves understaffed in some area or another. The cost of doing so aside, their reluctance in that is understandable. Acceptable? Depends.
In 33 years, according to the article, there hasn't ever been a big problem. *knocks on wood* I've not heard any terrible horror stories yet myself and I'm glad for that. There is a factor that needs to be taken into account here. People at the Fair are armed. Would it be stupid to try something around/near a crowd full of partially drunk, armed patrons and employees? That is obviously a rhetorical question. The answer is yes, it would be stupid.
Now back to the subject at hand, while I absolutely hate the type of behaviour that sex offenders are often linked to and guilty of, I don;t know what this fellow did. Just that he served time in jail already and paid a fine for it, eight years ago. What he actually did is anyones guess.
So he gets fired by fair. If CRF did background checks right now, how many other people would get fired for misconduct, felonies etc? Quite a few, I'd imagine.
*steps off the box* Thats my two pence.
In my opinion, the fault lies with the individual vendor for not doing a background check, not the faire. The man was fired because the vendor realized his record, not because he'd done anything wrong. In fact, he was the one who did everything right in getting a job. He moved to Colorado, got on the registry, and went about doing what he could to get a job. The fact that he did not have any restrictions about being around children says to me that his original offense probably had nothing to do with children, and like someone already said, you can become a sex offender for as little as urinating in public. The sex offender registry is highly subjective. I have a friend who was falsely accused of molestation, and even though the evidence proves otherwise, he was still slapped in the sex offender registry and it ruined his life. So what I'm saying is, the offense could be little or it could be large, but we don't know that either way. Oftentimes these problems arise from simple accusations rather than actual deeds.
In the end I think it's being blown out of proportion. There are a good lot of businesses that do not require background checks before hiring people, are we going to expose every single one of those businesses now? As the attorney for the faire said, they haven't done background checks for 33 years and it's never been a problem. I'm not defending the offender, but we don't know what he did in the first place so we can't really say he's a psychopath or a deranged sexual molester. The faire shouldn't be taking any sort of fall for this, I think. The fact is, yes there was an accused sex offender at the faire, yes he was fired, he's not there anymore so let's move on with our lives.
That's my 2 cents, anyway. I don't mean to offend or demean anyone, it's just my opinion on the subject, so keep that in mind.
As an Human Resources professional I could go on and on .. but let's leave it at this....
Thank you Zoe ... you get two thumbs up from me !!!
If your going to do a background check you best also verify with two forms of ID which IS a requirement for employment in the US (or suppose to be but even then places do not check). Usually a Passport will count as two or a drivers license and SS Card.
Actually, all my years at the faire, all of my employers have photocopied two forms of my ID.
I guess that's not a background check, but it's not like every vendor just randomly hires people off the street.
I find that is interesting that the accused person had did his time, paid his dues back to society, filed all the correct information, and does not have restriction with children, but still lost his job. Now I don't know what the exact crime was but if the person did everything they were suppose to do, don't they deserve to have a life without further repercussions?
You would think so, but as has been my experience (well not mine, but a friend's) once you are on that sex offender registry, it doesn't matter how many years in jail you do or how many fines you pay or how much rehab you go through, your life is pretty much over. Even if you come out clean on the other side and do everything by the books.
And this boys and girls is a lesson in NOT to get drunk and urinate in public... GEE Your Honor. I was just drunk and went potty, It's not like I raped a woman or sold kiddy porn on the net or anything!
this issue strikes very close to home.
A few years ago a cousin of mine has to register for life because at the age of 16 his girlfriend of almost 3 years (age 15, less than 6 months difference in age between them) sent him risque pictures by email. They prosecuted him on charges of child pornography, and now he can no longer see his younger siblings, work in any environment that has anything to do with "family oriented" activities, he has to notify his landlord, if he chooses to go back to college he has to notify the administration and the campus security, which means all of the teachers and staff will know. His photo is posted on the state registration web site.
If you read the laws in Colorado, JUST THE STATE, we have one of THE toughest standards for sex offenses in the country, and they prosicute the same for child molestation as they do for flashing as they do for copping a feel as they do for complimenting the hindparts of a woman and she takes offense to it.
before people go off the deep end about a sex offender working the faire, you need to know the circumstances.
unfortunately we live in a world that is lawsuit happy. overweight people sue fast food places for being overweight, and win. if there was even the suspected illusion of something going amiss, it is feesable that the vendor could have been held liable in some form. it isn't right, but it is wat it is.
How many patrons are there to staff? Maybe they should require every patron to have a background check before being allowed access into the faire? Just to be safe. Or, I don't know, maybe parents should keep in mind that for every 1000 wonderful people out there is the potential for a wacko, and keep our kids under a watchful eye. Also bear in mind that for every offender there is on the registry list, there are probably 2 or 3 that haven't been caught or convicted. It's a wonder that we ever leave our homes.
Yeah, there was a case in the news not too long ago about a guy who was found guilty of statutory rape, and so is a registered sex offender in spite of the fact that he and the girl are now adults who have now been happily married for several years.
Bottom line is that Renfairs are a pretty safe place most of the time. -Probably more so that places like the Mall of America which was forced to start a curfew so no one under 16 is admitted after 6pm without a parent or an escort over 21. If I had a child at fair I wouldn't worry too much about them during the day. I would worry more after hours when the booze might be flowing and less regulated in campground parties and such.
Getting on a sex offender list is pretty meaningless as it doen't take much. There was a case around here were 2 high schools kids dated for a long time then had sex. He was a couple of years older and her parents pressed charges against him. The couple married right out of high school and have been married for many years and have 3 kids. He still in on a list and has to register every where he moves. It hurts his chances for jobs and helping with his kids activities.
Yes, there are bad people who do really bad things that everyone should be warned about. Then there are teenagers doing stupid teenage things which haunt them for the rest of their lives.