Background check by city wouldn't have found crimes

Javier Erik Olvera, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 28, 2006 at midnight

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AURORA - The city's routine background check wouldn't have uncovered the sex-crime conviction of a man hired as a maintenance worker and who is now accused of molesting a boy he met on the job.

The temporary city job for which Jermaine Vaden, 29, was hired did not require a background check because it did not involve direct contact with children or the handling of money.

Even if the city had done a check, it would have turned up only crimes committed in Colorado.

Although Vaden served nine years in an Oklahoma prison for sodomizing two children, because he had no criminal record in Colorado, a statewide background check wouldn't have alerted the city to his past.

Prior to a change in policy this week, the city did nationwide background checks only on people hired to be firefighters, police or for positions in which they would have direct contact with children, said Aurora Human Resources Director Kin Shuman. Employees in less sensitive jobs were subjected only to statewide checks.

The city imposed a new policy in the wake of Vaden's arrest Tuesday that requires all potential employees to undergo nationwide background checks.

"It's in the best interest of the citizens and the community (to do these checks)," Shuman said.

The city's existing 2,700 employees - about half of whom have gone through checks as part of their jobs - also will be checked.

If an employee is found to have a conviction the city doesn't know about, officials would have to take into consideration whether the nature of the crime would have an impact on the person's ability to do their job, Shuman said.

According to the new policy released Thursday, "criminal convictions may become a determining factor in the continued employment of the individual."

City Attorney Charlie Richardson said the city must follow state law that says someone can't be discriminated against because of his or her past.

The city will look at several agencies that do background checks, including some that have contacted Aurora officials since Vaden's arrest made national news, Shuman said.

On July 8, 1995, Vaden broke into a house in Shawnee, Okla. - about 38 miles east of Oklahoma City - and sodomized two children, court records show. The Pottawatomie County court clerk couldn't release further information about the incident.

Vaden was sentenced to three 15-year terms that were to run consecutively, but he was released in July 2004 for good behavior, Oklahoma prison records show.

It's unknown when Vaden moved to Aurora because he hadn't registered as a sex offender, something he was required to do within five days under state law.

Vaden was hired by the city two months ago to clip branches, mow lawns and collect trash for the parks department. A supervisor usually accompanied Vaden as he went from site to site, which was mostly around parks in other open-space areas, Shuman said.

Vaden was working July 16 during the city's premiere kids event, KidSpree, which attracts thousands of children to Bicentennial Park.

Aurora police said he was helping vendors when he met a 15-year-old boy, who also was volunteering at the event.

Shuman said that Vaden "was clearly supervised" during the time he was at the event and that the supervisor did not lose sight of him while he worked.

It's there, however, that police say Vaden set up a July 17 meeting with the boy at a home in the 400 block of South Troy Street, where the alleged assault took place. Afterward, the boy went to police.

Vaden is being held on a $500,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

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