Sex Offender on County Payroll
TAMPA, Fla., April 22, 2005 -- -- A day after Hillsborough County tried to yank the pension of a convicted pedophile, ABC News affiliate WFTS-TV made a startling discovery: the county has a registered sex offender on the payroll.
Synrick Dorsett has worked for the county since 1981 and kept his job with the water department even after pleading guilty to sexual battery on a minor in 1994; he spent 10 years on probation.
"This person is getting paid by your tax dollars," said water department employee Dave Moreda, who works under Dorsett. "You know, I've worked for the county for 20 years. I'll be happy to work there, but not underneath a sexual predator. He should not be there."
But the county has no rules specifically preventing someone with that background being hired or employed.
"Currently, there's no policy that prohibits that," county human resources manager Danielle May said. "But we do take into consideration criminal convictions, and what type of conviction an applicant may have."
The county won't let someone with Dorsett's record work with children, but he is allowed to drive around in a county vehicle unsupervised, officials said.
Dorsett's service area includes Ruskin, where Sarah Lunde was killed last week. A convicted sex offender has been charged in the case.
The state legislature on Thursday approved a bill named for Jessica Lunsford, another girl allegedly killed by a convicted sex offender who had failed to register, that would make GPS monitoring technology mandatory for every sex offender.
Under the bill, offenders who molest children under 12 will face a minimum 25 years in prison and will have to wear an ankle monitor for life.
The bill was sparked by the slayings of three young Florida girls, all allegedly by sex offenders who had violated their parole, in just over a year. Sarah's death was the most recent; the first was Carlie Brucia, whose abduction last year was captured on a car wash video surveillance camera. And last month, Jessica Lunsford was abducted and killed, allegedly by a sex offender who lived a few doors away from her in Homosassa.
After spending two days lamenting the fact that former fire marshal Don Goff, currently imprisoned on child pornography charges, could still collect a pension, County Commissioner Ronda Storms was not pleased to learn about Dorsett's status.
"The public has a right to know that their taxpayer dollars are going to support jobs for law-abiding citizens, and not people who are a threat to public safety," she said.
Dorsett, however, is protected by civil-service rules, and the county cannot fire him. But Storms said she wants to make sure he has no more contact with the general public, and she also wants the county to develop a policy that prohibits hiring people who have been convicted of preying on children.
The county commission voted Wednesday to fight paying Goff's $37,000 annual pension. Goff is in jail after pleading guilty to sending lewd photos of himself over the Internet while trying to set up a rendezvous with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
"In three years, he'll be out," Storms said at the commission meeting Wednesday. "He'll have $3,000 a month in retirement if we don't act on this. And he'll have nothing but time on his hands, and [be] ready to get out in three years and ready to rock and roll on some other little girl. And I just can't tolerate it, and I know you can't either."
In addition to deciding to target Goff's pension, the commission voted to ask Gov. Jeb Bush to establish a task force to track offenders after their release from jail. They also voted to warn all county employees that committing such crimes while on duty could lead to similar consequences.