Former Babysitter Convicted Of Sex Assault, Police Warn More Victims Possibly Out There
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Police say more children may have been sexually assaulted by a babysitter in Arapahoe County.
Justin Jefferson, 22, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting several children while babysitting them. Families hired him off of a website and police believe there could be more victims.
Jefferson is now behind bars for sexually assaulting two young boys. He was hired through the website Care.com, a trusted site dedicated to making it easier to find care for a family.
"In this day and age you find people more skeptical of the things that they might purchase on eBay than some of the services they sign up for that might bring people into their home," District Attorney George Brauchler said.
Brauchler, who prosecuted the case, said when Jefferson was hired by the victims' families he did not stand out as a criminal.
"I'm not aware of anything that would have been a significant red flag," he said. "They don't always have a criminal history that stands up as reasons not to hire them."
Care.com declined an interview but offered a statement.
"When this incident occurred in 2010, we immediately closed Mr. Jefferson's account, communicated with any family with whom he had been in contact, and fully cooperated with authorities," the organization said in the statement.
The web service offers background checks at a cost from $59 to $300, but even the Care.com spokesman says those measures aren't enough.
Equally as important to the measures we have instituted is for families to exercise appropriate steps in safety, including meeting care providers before hiring them, reference checks and monitoring the relationship," the statement said.
