Would-be baby sitters are automatically screened to verify their identity and checked against state sex offender registries. And though additional background checks may sometimes be performed by the sites or by parents, Ettlinger’s case highlights their limits, especially in the case of someone who has not been convicted of a crime.
Sittercity.com, a site that removed Ettlinger’s profile from its listings after his arrest, said they stand by their practices.
Yesterday, Mary Schwartz, spokeswoman for Sittercity.com, outlined the company’s efforts to check the background of people in their listings. Parents can also choose an “enhanced background check’’ option, which includes a visit to the courthouse by site employees to check criminal records in person.
Ettlinger, a second-grade teacher at Newton’s Underwood Elementary School now on administrative leave, pleaded not guilty last week to charges of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, posing a child in a state of nudity, and possession of child pornography.
Before his arrest, Ettlinger had posted a background check with his listing on Care.com, another popular child-care website.
The record included Social Security number verification, along with cross-references against state and county criminal databases, state sex offender registries, terrorist watch lists, and state prison, parole, and release files. No red flags were raised.
That is why some warn that relying on background checks simply is not enough.
“You can’t just go to a website and pick somebody,’’ said Ollie Smith, interim executive director at the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. “There’s no way of vetting people on websites; you just don’t know enough.’’
On websites such as Care.com and Sittercity.com, Ettlinger seems to have extolled his child-care credentials.
“Hello, my name is David, and I am interested in becoming your babysitter,’’ began one of his messages, which he sent through Care.com on Oct. 16. The message was forwarded to the Globe by the parent who received it.
