Shock swept through the city over the arrest of former Underwood Elementary School teacher David Ettlinger, 34, on Jan. 17. It was followed a few days later by the arrest of a public library employee, in separate child pornography cases. The arrests spurred Fleishman and Mayor Setti Warren to call for a review late last month of city procedures.
Ettlinger and the library employee, Peter Buchanan, 47, have pleaded not guilty in these cases and a number of similar ones. But since the arrests, particularly of Ettlinger, parents have asked whether the city needs to expand its background checks of potential employees.
Buchanan was charged with three counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of distribution of material depicting a child in a sexual act.
Some parents have questioned how extensively the School Department looked into a handful of earlier complaints against Ettlinger, including one alleging he kicked a student.
In the past month, Ettlinger has been charged three times on sex-related crimes against children under 14. Last week he was in Middlesex Superior Court facing accusations that he indecently assaulted a girl whose parents had hired him to baby-sit her in their home. Ettlinger has also been charged in West Roxbury District Court with indecently assaulting another minor and in Brighton District Court with possession of child pornography.
Federal investigators also allege that he participated in an online global child pornography network. None of Ettlinger’s alleged victims was his student. Ettlinger resigned as a Newton teacher earlier this month.
The city conducted a criminal history check on Buchanan before he was hired 10 years ago, and Ettlinger was checked under the state’s Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) law every three years, most recently last year. Newton human resource officials found no problems during those checks.
But the CORI checks only reported criminal history in Massachusetts, and some parents and aldermen have asked whether a nationwide background check would be more appropriate. Still, it is unlikely such a check would have flagged Ettlinger and Buchanan because neither had a criminal history.
