Gaps in Colorado database may let offenders slip by

DENVER - Colorado’s background checks for school employees have weeded out dozens of teachers and teacher applicants with criminal convictions and misconduct allegations, including sexual abuse, state records show.

From 2001 through 2005, the Colorado Department of Education suspended, denied or revoked licenses for 151 teachers. Fifty-one of those cases involved sexual misconduct, accord- ing to an Associated Press analysis.

Colorado public schools employed 76,140 teachers in the 2005-2006 school year, teaching 780,708 students.

In Colorado, state officials rely on law enforcement agencies, the courts, news reports and tips to keep sex offenders and other felons from obtaining authorization to work in public schools.

But there are loopholes.

In Jefferson County, Michael David DiPalma faces several charges, including unlawful sexual conduct, after allegations he assaulted an 8-year-old boy at a Lakewood recreation center this summer. DiPalma, who has denied the charges, had worked at after-school classes offered by a company at the rec center and two Denver elementary schools.

In 1999, DiPalma was accused of sexual assault on a child in New Mexico, but the charges were reduced to false imprisonment.

Colorado doesn’t require background checks for contract programs. DiPalma’s employer, Computer Tots/Computer Explorers, still did a background check using Colorado records. The check did not reveal DiPalma’s record in New Mexico, owner Ross Parrent said.

Private schools are not required to hire teachers licensed by the state, although state officials say most private schools conduct background checks.

Teachers applying for licenses must submit fingerprints for background checks by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They also must disclose felony and misdemeanor convictions that aren’t traffic offenses.

It can take a month to hear from the CBI, and an FBI check can take several months to a year, the Colorado Department of Education said. Clearance of FBI and CBI checks isn’t required for the department to issue a credential.

Stanley Frederick became a substitute teacher for Roaring Fork School District RE-1 after he was authorized by the education department to begin work in November 1999, according to state records. It wasn’t until January 2000 that the state received FBI records revealing allegations he had fondled two teens at a Michigan camp where he was a counselor in 1991. His Colorado authorization was revoked.

Not all misconduct allegations are captured in criminal databases.

The state authorized Dale Ator to work as a substitute teacher in 2002, unaware that a Denver judge had enjoined him from practicing psychotherapy in 1997, state records show. The State Grievance Board had alleged he engaged in sexual contact with one of his clients while practicing unlicensed. Officials revoked his teaching authorization after he pleaded guilty in 2003 to sexually assaulting his adopted daughter.

In several cases, teachers lost their licenses only after students came forward to report misconduct. Some students reported incidents involving fellow students and other teachers, uncovering a long string of offenses against schoolmates who had kept quiet.

“The biggest thing that prevents kids from coming forward is they value their relationship with the perpetrator in most cases,” said Sherryll Kraizer, founder of the Coalition for Children. “Secondly, they think they did something wrong in allowing it to happen or participating. Third, they don’t really think adults will believe them. Those are incredibly powerful in keeping kids from coming forward.”

The state law requiring school employees to be fingerprinted for criminal background checks did not take effect until 1991, and it was not retroactive.

The law was meant to catch people who slipped through the cracks, like Denver teacher Rickie Boudar, who pleaded no contest to a kidnapping charge in 1979 after he was accused of forcing a 9-year-old girl to perform fellatio, according to state records.

He was sentenced to two years’ probation, but did not reveal it on his teacher’s license application. He renewed that license four times until it was finally revoked in 1997, when someone ran a check on his name and birthdate.

Today, state law allows for fingerprint checks of all applicants, including those renewing credentials they received before 1991.

“Eventually, we’re going to pick up on all these people who were exempt from fingerprint checks,” said Eric Yoder, of the licensing division of the Department of Education.

WHAT TO DO

Misconduct should be reported to school officials; crimes, to police or sheriff’s offices.