Mike Beaudet and Robert Siciliano expose how reputable companies hire workers with serious criminal records. Edward Traynor, a Level 3 sex offender, got remodeling contracts. A DirectTV repairman with burglary convictions stole a customer's ATM card. Companies often cut ties only after public exposure.
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Repairmen, cleaning people, salesmen. What do you really know about the people you let into your home? Coming up, a Fox Undercover investigation. Well, we tell our kids to beware of strangers, but do we take our own advice? Every day, people are letting strangers into their homes, no questions asked.
Repairmen, contractors, cleaning people, you name it.
Tonight, Fox Undercover's Mike Beaudet with an investigation that will make you wonder about who's working in your home. Think about it. What do you really know about the people you let into your home? You probably assume if they're working for a reputable company, they've been checked out and have a clean record. But we discovered there are no guarantees, and you can't be too careful about who's working in your home. E&R Construction boasts on its website that it serves with honesty, integrity, and competence. But the company is keeping a big secret from its customers.— a secret about company owner Edward Traynor's past. He's in and out of people's homes doing all types of remodeling. Traynor is a Level 3 sex offender, listed here on the Sex Offender Registry as someone the state believes is at a high risk to reoffend. His crimes include rape of a child with force and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Traynor is also a state-registered contractor and licensed construction supervisor. His sex offenses do not disqualify him from working. Do your customers know you're a Level 3 sex offender, sir? You go into people's homes. Do you think the public has a right to know this?
Most people don't have a clue as to who they're bringing into their homes.
Robert Siciliano is a security consultant.
You should always be suspect of a complete stranger that you invite into your home, regardless of if they're there from a contractor who you may know, like, and trust. That person could still be a bad guy.
I never even gave it really a second thought. I'd have put my pocketbook away or anything.
Priscilla Mason called DIRECTV when the satellite service at her home in Lynn stopped working. The company sent this man, Craig Cushing, to fix the problem.
He was running up and down and in and out, just flying. And he did get 5 of the TVs done right away.
After the repairman left, Mason Mason grabbed her pocketbook to go to the store.
There was no money in the pocketbook. I thought, that's funny, I don't remember spending that. Well, I gotta go to the ATM first, you know. And I always keep the card kind of jutting out, that's the one I use. That wasn't there.
The DIRECTV repairman was also inside the apartment of Debbie Stilkey, Mason's upstairs tenant, who left two necklaces on her dresser. They were right there.
And I just— I sat up and looked over and I went, "Oh, they're not there no more." Cushing was arrested later that same day after breaking into someone else's house.
Police found Mason's ATM card in his pocket. It turns out Cushing has a criminal record including drug and burglary convictions. He was on probation at the time of his arrest and is now serving a year in jail.
CoryCheck— what happened to the CoryChecks? Isn't it mandatory? DIRECTV has that.
DIRECTV tells us it requires all of our home service providers including subcontractors, to conduct extensive background and chemical screening tests. But that policy didn't stop Cushing from working for DIRECTV. Cushing was hired by a subcontractor, AAA Satellite, which happens to be owned by his father. After we started asking questions, DIRECTV cut all ties with AAA Satellite. Does it make you wonder about who you let into your home?
It does now.
Do you think some people are just too trusting?
Yeah, I mean, I'm a trusting person, but I don't even trust myself sometimes.
Jordan Jeffroy says he's proof you should worry about who you let into your home. His record is lengthy, 6 pages in all, including larceny and fraud convictions.
I had done 21 months recently. I did a year before that, and I did 90 days before that, so I've been in and out for the past 5 years.
Jeffroy was released in June and hired by Golden Circle in Hudson, New Hampshire to go into people's homes and sell vacuum cleaners. He's on probation and has to tell his probation officer where he's working. So Jeffroy says he disclosed his criminal record on the first job application he filled out.
And he just told me not to mark anything, not to mark yes, not to mark no. So he ripped up my first application, I filled out another one, and I didn't mark anything on it.
And so this convicted felon went to work selling vacuums inside people's homes who had no idea about his past. Jeffroy says he did not commit any crimes while selling vacuums and has since quit the job, but he's speaking out because he believes the company is putting customers in danger.
You know, one of the other guys was a sex offender. He was in jail for attempted murder or something violent, you know what I mean? Going into your house with a single old lady, a single mother, that would be kind of freaky.
Any corporation that hires a convicted criminal that has a tendency to theft or violence is an irresponsible corporation, and they should be called on the carpet.
Golden Circle owner Jeremy Colon did not return repeated calls to comment about why the company hired Jeffroy given his criminal record.
Ultimately, your personal security is your responsibility. You know, no one's gonna protect you but you, so you have to do your own due diligence and do your own background checks, making sure that the companies that you hire are also doing background checks, and, and be insistent about it.
You can do your own background check if you have someone's name and date of birth And you can also check if someone's listed on the state's sex offender registry. For more information, go to our website, myfoxboston.com. Some other things to think about according to our security expert: use the buddy system. Never let anyone into your home if you're alone or just with the kids. And when someone's in your house, watch what they're doing. Don't be afraid to follow them around. You have an idea for a Fox Undercover investigation? We want to hear it. Call us, 1-800-TV-FOX-25. I'm Mike Bodette for Fox Undercover.
