Governor grieves loophole in state law about sex offenders
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PROSSER - The Governor was in town today and focused on the future of our wine industry.
She visited the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser as part of a two-day trip to Eastern Washington covering the Tri-Cities and Yakima area.
We took this opportunity to ask her about the report we first brought you yesterday -- where a state audit uncovered dozens of sex offenders working at in-home daycares or with foster families.
Three offenders were found in Franklin County.
But when we asked the state for the names of those daycares, we were told the names could not be disclosed to protect the kids at the daycare who are clients of DSHS.
The State Auditor's Office said they were bound by the law not to disclose this information.
So we asked the Governor if something should be changed.
We asked “What should state law do? Should it be changed in order to know if a sex offender has worked in a preschool or daycare before?”
Gregoire responded, "You know, we need to take a look at that -- because we need to comply with federal law and I want to make sure we do it right. And again, the idea that a sex offender is in a daycare of foster home is unacceptable.”
Since the report, Gregoire says the state has implemented structural changes to prevent this from happening again.
The offenders are all off the job since they were discovered.
If you'd like to read the full audit from the State, it’s posted at keprtv.com. Just click on newslinks.
She visited the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser as part of a two-day trip to Eastern Washington covering the Tri-Cities and Yakima area.
We took this opportunity to ask her about the report we first brought you yesterday -- where a state audit uncovered dozens of sex offenders working at in-home daycares or with foster families.
Three offenders were found in Franklin County.
But when we asked the state for the names of those daycares, we were told the names could not be disclosed to protect the kids at the daycare who are clients of DSHS.
The State Auditor's Office said they were bound by the law not to disclose this information.
So we asked the Governor if something should be changed.
We asked “What should state law do? Should it be changed in order to know if a sex offender has worked in a preschool or daycare before?”
Gregoire responded, "You know, we need to take a look at that -- because we need to comply with federal law and I want to make sure we do it right. And again, the idea that a sex offender is in a daycare of foster home is unacceptable.”
Since the report, Gregoire says the state has implemented structural changes to prevent this from happening again.
The offenders are all off the job since they were discovered.
If you'd like to read the full audit from the State, it’s posted at keprtv.com. Just click on newslinks.
