Child-Porn Arrest Spurs Criminal Checks at Florida Agency

Too Little, Too Late? The Florida Department of Children and Families is initiating criminal background checks on its 13,500 employees—a step being taken after its spokesman was arrested and charged with eight counts related to child pornography, according to a news article by the Associated Press. The spokesman, Al Zimmerman, is charged with eight counts of using a child in a sexual performance. The incidents involved two teenage boys, one of whom reportedly was in the care of the Florida children’s department.

The department’s secretary, Bob Butterworth, said at a news conference that his agency will take steps to “make sure all employees filled out official applications, have been fingerprinted and that former employers were contacted before they were hired,” the AP reports. (The article does not address possible repercussions, such as firings, if employees are found to have criminal records.)

According to the AP, although the checks are required for new employees, none were conducted on Zimmerman, who reportedly had previously been arrested for DUI and writing bad checks. His references were checked, but not former employers. The agency didn’t institute its fingerprint requirement until about a year after Zimmerman was hired, the report states. If convicted on the child pornography charges, Zimmerman reportedly faces up to 120 years in prison.