Investigative Report: UF Hired Sexual Predator
Florida Public Colleges, Universities Have No Background Check Policy
Hannah Field, Investigative Reporter
Originally published by Click10.com (WPLG-TV Miami), May 30, 2001
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Hiring policy at some Florida public colleges and universities allows them to employ convicted criminals, even convicted sexual predators—and at least one college provost has defended their right to do so.
Darryl Davis is a graduate student at the University of Florida who taught acting for non-majors last semester. Davis is also a registered sexual predator. To verify his criminal status was as simple as logging into the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Web site (http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/sexual_predators/). A few clicks of a mouse, and a simple search turned Davis up in the registry.
A criminal history from the state of Michigan, where Davis committed his crime, showed that he was convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a person under the age of thirteen. Davis was twenty-seven at the time police arrested him. He spent time in jail and just got off probation two and a half years ago.
The responsibility for hiring ultimately ends up with the department head. When asked about background checks, the department chair for theater and dance, Kevin Marshall said, "We certainly check the backgrounds of the students through the application process to the university." When he was shown evidence of having employed a registered sexual predator last semester, he said he was not aware of it. Marshall said he needed to look into the situation and later said he could not comment on the situation because the information is part of Davis' student records.
This isn't the first time a Florida university has hired someone with a criminal history. In fact, just eight months ago, Florida A and M University hired a man to fill the position of associate dean, and later found he was convicted of raping a thirteen-year-old girl in Texas in 1996.
University of Florida provost David Colburn is a member of the background check task force that sets state school policies. Universities are not currently required to do background checks. In January of this year Provost Colburn was quoted in the Tampa Tribune as saying, "You have to be careful you don't develop bad policy based on a bad example that occurred once in a lifetime."
Attempts to interview Colburn on hiring policies were repeatedly turned down because he was "too busy."
After the FAMU incident, the task force said that state-run universities do not need to run a criminal background check for every job applicant. Board members suggest that schools run the checks based on the type of position a person is applying for.
The task force did strongly recommend a background check if the job involves handling money or access to dormitories. University of Florida hiring policy mirrors this approach.
Graduate students that are awarded assistantships receive payment of up to $6,400 a year, and a tuition waiver of a little more than $2,000. Assistantships use up a majority of the school's financial aid funds. All that, and no background check is required on the person who will interact directly with college students, some of them still minors.
In Davis' case, a question on the graduate application asks if the person applying has ever been charged with a violation of the law that resulted in probation or a jail sentence. But the applicant can say no, and no one will perform a background check. Darryl Davis did not respond to repeated offers to comment on this case.
Judy Croney, from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, says elementary, middle, and high schools require teacher certification. When the department of education certifies someone, they also do a background check. State Attorney, William Cervone says even college students deserve protection. "Even though the students there are older—they're not third graders anymore—they can still be put into vulnerable situations or exposed to things that the community would not want."
In Florida, it costs $15 for an in-state background check and $24 for a national one. After being informed that the university had employed a registered sexual predator, Provost Colburn said that the University of Florida will conduct its own an investigation into the matter.
As hiring policy currently stands, Florida's public colleges and universities can make no guarantee on the backgrounds of those who work with students in their classrooms.
