My Sons Daycare Provider Was a Molester

When my sons went to Buffalo Ridge Elementary several years ago, we were thrilled to find that there was before and after-school daycare right on the premises with a company that had been approved by the school district. And seeing as how they were in 2nd and 5th grades, it was especially nice that this one was more tailored to boys! And it was run by three guys. They were totally uninterested anymore in stringing beads or coloring. But this one had lots of ballgames and fantasy stories. Imagine my surprise when, while watching the news one day, I saw that one of the daycare providers was accused of molesting one of the kids! I checked it out as an internet story and then all those parent phone calls began. Apparently, this guy had molested at least one boy while in the bathroom on a field trip. And now he was being hauled off to jail!

Since the guy had no priors, I guess the employment screening had not turned up anything. And luckily nothing had happened to my sons, probably since there were two of them and both were rather outspoken. And it turned out that one of my son’s friends had finally come forward to say that it happened over some time. There might have been another boy, too. Boy, I can tell you that after that, I didn’t know whom to trust! I mean, can parents do something more in-depth to research these people, like something more than a criminal records search? So from then on, (and luckily the older boy was old enough,) those two became latch-key kids from then on. It somehow just seemed safer that way.