Community Corner

Auditor Report Finds Sex Offenders at Registered Child Care Facilities

State audit finds 119 Level 2 and 3 sex offenders living at addresses registered as child care providers. Also, background checks not being done in some cases.

A new report from State Auditor Suzanne Bump suggests that a surprisingly large number of sex offenders statewide may be living in properties also used as childcare facilities.

According to the report, the recent audit found 119 Level 2 and 3 sex offenders living at addresses that were also registered with the state as child care providers. The audit took place over 15 months from July, 2010 through September, 2011.

“While we recognize that all 119 may not pose a problem because some of the information in the sex offender registry may be outdated, we believe that routinely conducting this match will serve to better ensure the safety of children in (Department of Early Education and Care’s) programs,” stated the report.

Meanwhile, the report does not provide information on how many Level 1 sex offenders may be living at registered child care facilities, in part because their lower rating currently affords them greater anonymity in the eyes of the law. Back in December, Wakefield Police Chief Richard Smith told Fox 25 in Boston that 16 of 17 level 1 offenders in Wakefield had committed their crimes against children.

Soon after the John Burbine sex abuse case in Wakefield first broke, Wakefield Patch spoke with a local mother who recalled actually trying to do a background check on Burbine when she enrolled her child at their former Waterfall Education Center.

Burbine was classified as a Level 1 sex offender stemming from an incident that occurred years before the child molestation scandal. His wife, , for having allegedly known of her husband’s Level 1 status and allowing him to work with children. In December, Burbine was charged with 100 counts involving the alleged molestation of children. As noted by area media outlets this week, he was also indicted in Essex County for an allegation involving a boy in Saugus.

In response to the legal loophole that allowed Burbine to go undetected, state lawmakers proposed some reforms early this year to the state classification system.

In other findings, the state audit found that “EEC is not ensuring that its licensed child care providers are performing the required Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) checks on their staff, both at the point of hire and then every three years.” A sample found that CORI checks had not been performed for 15 of 152 child care workers.  The report touched on a number of other matters, from concerns about untested well water at two state-run facilities and unannounced inspections apparently not being carried out at large state-run homes.

"There is no excuse and no justification for allowing sex offender information to be inaccurate, outdated, or inaccessible, and it’s time for comprehensive reform and legislative action," said State Senate Republican Leader Bruce Tarr in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.

Find out what's happening in Mansfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I am extremely disheartened that it takes reports like the one published by State Auditor Suzanne Bump to expose glaring deficiencies within certain state agencies when it comes to protecting Massachusetts’ children and families," added House Republican Brad Jones in a statement during the afternoon. 

Click here for the full text of the auditor’s report.

Find out what's happening in Mansfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Mansfield