Saturday, December 19, 2009
A cafeteria worker in two Kirkwood Schools was charged recently with being a registered sex offender near a school.
Kirkwood High School Principal Dave Holley sent notices to district parents Wednesday and Thursday notifying them that Kirkwood Police alerted the district to the worker and that they had arrested him Wednesday.
Fonda Dean
Fonda Dean, 45, was charged with two counts of being a registered sex offender present within 500 feet of school property when persons under the age of 18 are present. St. Louis County prosecuting attorney's office spokeman Don Schneider, said.
Missouri law does not allow registered sex offenders to work around children or live within 500 feet of a school building. Dean was convicted of a sexual offense in 1998.
According to Holley the worker had spent four hours working in the cafeteria at Keysor Elementary School on Nov. 10 and worked off and on for 18 days at Kirkwood High School. The suspect was hired by a temporary agency for Chartwells, a company that provides food services for the district.
Dean was convicted of a sexual offense in 1998, Holley wrote.
Kirkwood Police have not responded to a Globe-Democrat.com request for comment on the arrest. Representatives of the Compass Group, the company that owns Chartwells, also have not responds to a Globe-Democrat.com request.
“The staffing agency has stated an error was made in performing the background check on the person,” Holley wrote to parents. “Chartwells has assured the district that they are investigating the situation. The district will continue to work with Chartwells to ensure this type of situation does not occur in the future.”
“Please be assured that protecting the welfare of all students and providing a safe, secure learning environment is our first priority,” Holley wrote. “If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact your grade level principal or my office.
Comments
matguy7071 (anonymous) says...
Well it depends on what he was charged with to become a sex offender. In Missouri (and other states) there are many people on this so called "sex offender" list that just "peed in public" or were forced to sign up on the registry to avoid jail time in misdermeaner crimes. IF this man was indeed a sex-offender against a minor - then YES, why is he working in a school? I checked the Missouri registry and could not find him.
December 18, 2009 at 5:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mhcardfan (anonymous) says...
I don't even work for a school/school district/around children period and my place of employment did a very thorough background check on me. The works finger prints, called my previous places of employment, & called my references to see about my character.
December 19, 2009 at 11:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
THEFEMALESCARFACE (anonymous) says...
I know this person and was surprised when this happened. Not because he deserves to work, but because he continues to violate laws pertaining to registered sex offenders. Including at one point moving out of state. I hope he gets a worthy punishment we have to keep our children safe from predators. Just found out myself 6 months ago that he ( IS )on the Missouri registry for sex offenders.
March 1, 2010 at 5:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )