Could your real estate agent be a sex offender? You likely would never know

Maureen Stilwell had a bad feeling about the property manager in her Wellington neighborhood.

He didn't fit in well with the close-knit community. Folks didn't like him, said Stilwell, who was on the board of her homeowner's association at the time.

Stilwell did a little digging. She quickly discovered that her community property manager was a registered sex offender.

"I was amazed it came right up on Google," she said. "I emailed the rest of the board and said, 'We have to get rid of this guy now.'"

The man they fired has been a registered sex offender since 2007. He pleaded no contest to possession of child pornography in exchange for avoiding felony charges and a potential five-year prison sentence.

While registered sex offenders in Palm Beach County are forbidden for life from residing within 1,000 feet of a school, park or playground, they are allowed to work as real estate agents, property managers and some other licensed professionals. And, with the exception of some jobs involving close contact with children, they are not required to disclose their status as sex offenders to co-workers or clients.

No list of where sex offenders work

County, state and federal governments, as well as some non-profits, publish maps that show where sex criminals live. But there is no public database that shows where they work -- a point some experts say may seem troublesome but does not necessarily put the public at greater risk of assault.

In the case of property managers and real estate agents like Stilwell's, those who become registered sex offenders after being issued a license must report the crime to the licensing board or risk disciplinary action.

But some might be reluctant to self-report because of public stigma or the threat of losing their licenses.

"If the system has no way of verifying (crimes subsequent to obtaining a license) independently, the system has a big flaw in it," said Peter Cruise, a Palm Beach County ethics commissioner and executive director of the LeRoy Collins Public Ethics Academy at Florida Atlantic University. "If we're dealing with a crime like a sex offense that's a very serious thing."

Even if someone chooses to report a sexual offense conviction after being issued a license, the public would never know. In Florida, state laws surrounding self-reporting render that information confidential.

When the client is the victim

The National Association of Realtors offers tips on how real estate professionals can avoid becoming victims of violent crime. But sometimes, it is the client who needs to be protected.

In March 2019, an Orlando real estate agent was charged with three counts of sexual battery after he repeatedly raped a client.

In South Carolina, the owner of an upscale real estate firm reportedly killed at least seven people, chaining another victim by the neck in a metal storage container for two months before authorities rescued her.

It was subsequently discovered that in 1986, the man raped a 14-year-old neighbor at gunpoint and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. When he was released in 2001, he obtained his real estate license. He ran two offices until his 2016 arrest and the discovery of at least seven bodies buried on his property.

Two-thirds of sex offenders are arrested a second time within nine years of their prison release, a May 2019 report by the U.S. Department of Justice says. And while sex offenders are less likely than other released prisoners to be arrested again for any crime, they are three times more likely to be arrested for rape or sexual assault.

Few sex offenders have real estate licenses

Of the 1,000 registered sex offenders in Palm Beach County, four have active real estate sales licenses, a Palm Beach Post analysis of state records found. Three -- two men and one woman -- were registered sex offenders before obtaining their licenses. The other, a man, became a registered sex offender after receiving his license.

Their crimes include sexual battery, sexual battery on a child, lewd and lascivious sexual offense against a child, possession of child pornography and using the internet to solicit a child for sex.

In one case, the man served jail time for four felony sexual assault charges including tying up and raping a child. He was arrested a year later for violating his monitored probation. He received his real estate license two years after that.

In another case, the offender -- a licensed real estate sales agent -- attempted to lure a child he believed to be 13-years-old to have sex with him at his attorney's office because he was afraid if someone saw them at a hotel it would look "suspicious."

The man picked his attorney's office because "he was familiar with the area as he does real estate work in the area," police said.

The man remains licensed in Palm Beach County more than 15 years after his conviction.

It is almost impossible to know how many state-licensed professionals in other fields are sex criminals or registered sex offenders. The state keeps some of that information private, and what is public can only be searched by name, not criminal status.

Little public protection

Federal law requires sex offenders to register where they live, but because there is no public database that shows where they work, a person could, literally, hand over the keys to their home to a registered sex offender without realizing it.

Real estate agents certainly are not the only workers who enter people's homes. Electricians, plumbers, contractors, air conditioning specialists, chefs, cleaning service workers, dog walkers and others often are welcomed.

But unlike real estate licenses that can be obtained in a matter of weeks, construction industry licenses require years of education and vocational training. And unlike real estate agents, most construction professionals aren't entrusted with a key to the home.

And it's not only the listing agent who has access to keys. Any agent with the code to a lockbox can enter a home.

Clients may assume that because an agent is properly licensed, working for a reputable company or a member of a local professional organization, they are fully vetted.

That is not always the case.

The state knew the status of the Wellington property manager when he applied for both his community association manager and real estate sales licenses, records from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation show.

A department spokesperson said registered sex offenders must go through a background check and obtain committee approval before getting either license, but sex offender status does not automatically preclude an applicant from obtaining such licenses. Every case, they say, is evaluated on an individual basis.

In the case of the Wellington property manager, the state initially denied him his community association managers' license, saying he did not possess "good moral character." The man retained an attorney, and after several hearings, was awarded his license. He went on to obtain his real estate sales license the following year.

In time, he joined the Palm Beach Board of Realtors, Realtors of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, all membership organizations that do not conduct criminal background checks.

"We don't investigate anybody," said Tracy Malette, executive vice president of the Palm Beach Board of Realtors. "We're not allowed to do that."

Privacy vs. public safety

As troubling as the thought might be of unknowingly working with a sex criminal, some point to good reasons for offenders to keep their status private.

Even sex offenders need to earn a living, and minimizing their employment opportunities will not necessarily make the public any safer, criminal defense attorney Aaron Delgado said.

"It probably encourages lawlessness and hopelessness and leads to worse problems," he said. "It's a difficult balancing act."

Delgado, who has represented sex offenders and written about sex offender registration requirements in Florida, said it would be hard for registered sex offenders to earn a living if they had to disclose their status.

"I don't think that a real estate agent should have to say, 'Hey I'm a sex offender, I just wanted you to know that,'" he said. "I think that at the very least, the real estate organization or sanctioning body or website should probably reflect any type of (criminal records)."

But they don't.

"I'm stunned to hear there may be a loophole that sex offenders are able to have to register one place to live ... but that they could go somewhere else to work," Cruise said.

But whether it's a loophole or fair practice is up for debate.

While saying that sex offenders deserve the opportunity to earn a living might seem right on paper, Delgado admitted he once asked a worker to leave his home when he discovered the man's status as a sex offender.

"Anytime someone is coming into your home or dealing with you in such an intimate way you are going to be concerned," he said. "You don't know the personal demons of anyone you meet."

In addition, requiring sex offenders to register where they work is not likely to lower recidivism rates, said Elizabeth Jeglic, a professor of psychology and sexual violence prevention at John Jay College at the City University of New York.

Jeglic has written extensively about sexual violence prevention, and her 2016 book "Sexual Violence: Evidence Based Policy and Prevention" is focused on effectiveness and policies of registries.

"The research on sex offender registries show they have little effect," she said about their effect on recidivism. "If we believe in giving people a second chance and rehabilitation, they should be able to work in the community."

Still, like Delgado, Jeglic struggles with whether the public has a right to know if a worker entering their home is a registered sex offender.

"As a mother and a woman, would l like to know? Sure. As a researcher, there's no evidence that knowing would make a difference," she said.

Protected by employer

By and large, the public wants to know if they are working with or living near a sex offender, Jeglic said.

"The public views on sex offenders is different than on other types of offenders," she said. "People feel better knowing that something is being done about this problem."

But the public often doesn't know because, not only can they not rely on the state licensing board or membership organizations to weed out sex offenders, they can't always rely on employers either.

In the case of one of the Palm Beach County real estate agents, his boss denied knowing he was a registered sex offender. But public records show the boss wrote a character reference on the sex offender's behalf and then later hired him as a real estate agent.

"If this person is an agent and out running around and has keys (to client's homes), I think if that were known, it would really be a black eye for the company," Cruise said.

Conflicting ideas

Finding a balance between protecting the public and enabling sex offenders to earn a living is a complicated issue on which Cruise, Delgado and Jeglic have conflicting thoughts.

They all point out that each person is unique, whether they are a registered sex offender or not, and some may pose greater threats than others.

"The bigger concern is are they an embezzler or are they a fraudster?" Delgado said. "Someone like that I would be just as worried about, if not more."

Each said that while it may not be ideal, it is up to prospective clients do their own research before allowing a real estate professional or anyone else into their homes.

"The bottom line is, yes, in this day and age you have to watch everything," Delgado said. "You have to do your due diligence on everybody."

It is a lesson that Stilwell, who is now the president of her association, said she learned the hard way. "I Google everyone now," she said.

Data reporter Chris Persaud contributed to this story.

wrhodes@pbdailynews.com

@WendyRhodesFL

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