6% Of Child Care Facilities In California Employ Sex Offenders

One would think background checks would be a requirement, but apparently they're not. How else would so many sex offenders work in a child care facility?

The state social services agency on Wednesday was moving to shut down nine homes used for child daycare and foster care after an audit found registered sex offenders living there in violation of state law.

The revelation came after state auditors compared the addresses of 75,000 licensed facilities, including foster family homes and daycare centers, with the state's database of registered sex offenders.

California Department of Social Services Director John Wagner said the audit found that the addresses of 49 sex offenders matched those of 46 child care facilities.

The department was able to confirm nine of the cases during inspections of all 46 facilities that were completed Monday, Wagner said.

Three license suspensions already are in effect — two in Los Angeles and one in San Bernardino. Two foster children were removed by local authorities in one of the cases, Wagner said.

The department would not immediately give details on the other six pending suspensions.