A recently convicted sex offender from Rhode Island was working at a Massachusetts-based mental health provider up until his prison sentence.
Stephen Souza, 44, worked as a director at North Suffolk Community Services, based out of Chelsea, for several years until he stopped showing up for work a couple of weeks ago. He is now in a medium-security prison in Cranston, Rhode Island, a spokesman with the Rhode Island Supreme Court confirmed.
“I was in shock that someone was able to slip through the cracks slip through the radar,” an employee who asked to remain anonymous told NBC10 Boston. “I’m looking for management to have the answers and they don’t have the answers.”
Souza was initially facing 34 counts of possessing and producing child pornography out of Washington County Superior Court, but was ultimately convicted on 11 of those charges last month. NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne said those charges likely wouldn’t come up when searching the Massachusetts Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI).
“A Massachusetts CORI check — criminal offender records — would likely not have shown out-of-state charges. It rarely does,” Coyne said. “And for a position of this sort, they should have, in all likelihood, made a much more thorough search of wherever the individual had worked and lived in the past.”
Some employees are now concerned about privacy, since the anonymous worker said Souza had unlimited access to their buildings and surveillance equipment.
“These are mental health centers and people bring their children to these centers,” the anonymous North Suffolk Community Services employee said. “I just hope that this is not looking like a cover up because it’s not OK.”
“The company has a lot of explaining to do and some significant issues with respect to liability and negligence,” Coyne said.
Souza is now serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, followed by seven and a half years of probation.
North Suffolk Community Services Interim CEO Judi Lemoine released a statement noting that Souza’s conviction stems from charges that predate his employment.
“This individual has been terminated. Extensive Massachusetts and Rhode Island background checks were conducted prior to employment,” Lemoine wrote. “We always conduct a background check both for Massachusetts and any state where an applicant has resided.”
