If you have a children and youth’s ministry at your church, you must implement a child protection program that included background checks. So, what happens when something comes up? Here at ChurchWest, we receive calls just about weekly from churches that have run a background check and that happens.
Of course, your good judgement is a valuable guide, but a list of disqualifiers can help you stay safe. Here are 35 offenses that could disqualify someone from volunteering in the youth ministry.
- Sexual assault of a child
- Physical abuse of a child
- Causing mental harm to a child
- Sexual exploitation of a child
- Incest
- Use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime
- Soliciting a child for prostitution
- Sexual intercourse with a child age 16 or older
- Exposure
- Possession of child pornography
- Child sex offender working with children
- Registered sex offender photographing children
- Child neglect; abduction
- Contributing to truancy
- Strip searches by school employees
- Hazing
- Child unattended in a child care vehicle
- Leaving loaded firearm accessible to a minor
- Receiving stolen property from a child
- Tattooing a child
- Battery
- Battery or threat to a witness
- Battery or threat to a judge
- Battery to an unborn child
- Mayhem
- Sexual exploitation by a therapist
- Sexual assault
- Reckless injury
- Injury by negligent handling of a firearm
- Injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle
- Abuse of persons at risk
- False imprisonment
- Kidnapping
- Stalking