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A Background Check Would Have Saved My ChildDuring the summer months my family and I spent a lot of time on the porch of our second floor apartment in upstate New York. We really enjoyed the bird’s eye view we had from up there. On the weekends we might see the neighbors washing their cars or mowing their lawns, doing house repairs, or just relaxing while watching their children play. We loved it. We had a clear view of the street down below, and nothing much happened without us noticing it. It was August 1986, and on this one particular day I had just finished having lunch on the porch when I noticed this car moving slowly down the street. It was a dingy white car with a blue front left fender. At first I thought it was just somebody looking for a house address. As the car got closer I remember saying “is this guy doing what I think he’s doing?” Sure enough, as the car passed by my house, I knew my hunch was right. I immediately went into shock; I really couldn’t believe what I had just seen. This guy was actually pleasuring himself while driving around my neighborhood with people and children everywhere like it was no big deal! Can you believe it? It was absolutely mind boggling! Fortunately for me, my two young daughters were in the house at that time. Well, needless to say, I called the police. They took my statement and said they would dispatch a vehicle to patrol the area. Unfortunately the police officer I spoke to said “I’m going to be honest with you. Even if we find this guy, there’s nothing we can do unless we catch him in the act.” I was very disappointed to hear that but, I knew deep down inside he was right. We spent the rest of that evening sitting on the porch talking about it and wondering how many other deviant or dangerous people may be living near or around our house. Let’s face it; this guy looked like any other guy. For all I know, my next door neighbor could be a rapist or serial killer. How would I know? It’s not like they go around advertising it on their foreheads. Anyway, I went to bed that night relieved that the whole ordeal was over, or so I thought. A few months later we attended parents’ night at the elementary school, and as usual, most of us would stay afterwards to socialize and have refreshments. Before I knew It, I was telling the story about the guy pleasuring himself in his car when this woman abruptly interrupted me and said “Excuse me, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your conversation but, by any chance was it a white car with a blue fender?” Immediately I answered “Yes! Why, do you know him?” Apparently this guy and his wife were both arrested for having inappropriate pictures of their son and daughter posing in questionable positions. Get this, the wife was the one taking the pictures. Surprisingly, they were never convicted. The woman continued saying she had been warned by the school’s principle because the woman’s forth grade daughter and the deviant couple’s daughter were friends. Right away I said “Wait a minute, my daughter is in the forth grade too. What’s the girl’s name?” When she told me, I remembered thinking the name sounded familiar, but I wasn’t sure. It was getting late. I still had to pick the children up from their grandparents’ house. So I thanked the woman for the information, and we said goodbye. The following day we sat down with our daughter and asked her if she was friends with this girl. She said “Yes. Don’t you remember? I went to play at her house.” I quickly became nauseous, angry and afraid all at the same time. We questioned her for almost an hour, and thank God nothing terrible happened! However, she did tell us the mother and father kept saying things like “We can have lots of fun if you sleep over” and “Don’t forget to ask your parents if you can sleep over”. Even at school their daughter would say “my mother and father want you to sleep over” We were very disappointed with ourselves. We always made it a point to meet the parents. For some reason this time we didn’t. Just think how easily this could have ended in a horrible tragedy. Thankfully it didn’t. I felt compelled to share this story on your website because I want your visitors to know; back in 1986 we didn’t have the ability to do background checks. Today, it’s very easy to find out if someone has a criminal record. A background check would have saved my child from these people. If you have children, my advice to you is, find out everything you can about the people around them. That means from the parents of their friends, to the neighbors on your street, and from the teachers at the school, right down to the scout leaders and babysitters. When it comes to protecting your children, why take any chances? Total Background Checks offers a variety of background and public information retrieval services. Additionally, victims of crimes committed by non-strangers are invited to submit and share their experience in our True Story feature; this is a great platform for helping others that may have gone through similar situations. David J Moore |