Youth coach arrest highlights need for stricter background checks

After a youth coach was arrested for child pornography-related charges in Florida, local parents are looking for answers as to why the man was hired in the first place. WTVT-TV reports that 44-year-old David Rojas, along with another man, was caught as part of a cyber sting, which revealed that he and his accomplice had allegedly drugged two teenage girls and told them to engage in sexual acts with one another, all while filming. Police took computers, cameras and DVDs that belonged to Rojas, who has a lengthy criminal record. Parents in the community were shocked following the arrest and say that a background screening should have been done before hiring Rojas. "I was totally shocked and when it said child porn charges beneath his picture, I yelled for my husband," Laurie Ferguson, whose child was in coached by Rojas, told WTVT. "There are things that are supposed to be put in place to protect our kids and were they followed? I'm angry. Everybody wants answers to questions." The Government Accountability Office recently released a report accusing school officials of ignoring warning signs prior to hiring sex offenders. According to its report, 35 states currently restrict offenders from working at schools.