Even though churches rely on volunteers to work with youth and children, Josh Weis, executive vice president at Ministry Brands, said they’re only running a minimum of what is required when it comes to background checks. In fact, a recent audit revealed that 60 percent of churches and ministries don’t conduct broad screenings. He continued to say that “basic background checks are not enough to keep dangerous predators from taking positions as religious leaders.” Another big problem, Weis said, is that National Sex Offender Registry and the National Criminal Database searches are not updated in real-time. Sarasota County police arrested a 66-year-old pastor, charging him with 500 felony counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of failing to meet sex offender requirements after following up on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
