Driving teacher's offender status unknown

7/1/05

A man registered as a sex offender in the state of Washington got Wisconsin licenses to teach driver's education because licensing officials were unaware of his criminal background, a state Department of Transportation official said Thursday.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation does not conduct national criminal background checks of the estimated 700 commercial driving school instructors it licenses annually, said Karen Roscoe, who supervises the department's commercial driver's education licensing.

Her agency could access the FBI's National Crime Information Center only if legislators change state law, she said.

The Transportation Department learned of William Webb's 1992 child molestation conviction after he was convicted of possession of child pornography in his Milwaukee home, and the agency notified him last week it was denying his license renewal application.

He worked as a driving instructor at Arcade Driving School in Brookfield. The area's school district, Elmbrook, stopped offering driver's education a few years ago.

Department of Public Instruction spokesman Joe Donovan said driver's education instructors employed by public school districts undergo background checks of Wisconsin criminal records.

National checks for which non-law enforcement agencies need a fingerprint are conducted if the instructor has lived out of state for any period of time, "even a summer," Donovan said.

Arcade Driving School owner Melissa Dolney said she was surprised to learn the state Transportaton Department was not checking national records and hoped that will change. But she said Webb was a good employee.

Source: The Capital Times; http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/index.php?ntid=45542&ntpid=4

Click here to return to the E-zine and/or close this window