A host family from Guilford is suing Cultural Care for $5 million dollars and the civil lawsuit charges the agency with breach of contract, negligence and fraud. They allege that their Swedish au pair took inappropriate photographs of their 5-year-old daughter. The suit claims that the daughter and her family are suffering from "irreversible emotional injury and distress” and seeks damages that include financial cost to the parents associated with finding another au pair, providing medical care for their minor child as well as the costs of litigation.
The civil lawsuit, filed in Federal court, claims that the agency failed to adequately screen, train, supervise and monitor the au pair. When the host mom found the alleged photographs, police took the au pair in for questioning. The photographs showed their child wearing red silk pajamas and her face was covered in heavy make-up. In some of the photos, the girl's top was open, in other photos, the top was off altogether. In one picture, the girl had her hand down her pajama bottoms. This was the only photo that was later interpreted by the police to be pornographic.
Because the law stipulates that there must be at least three pornographic pictures for an arrest - the au pair was released and the agency sent her home to Sweden. No charges were ever filed against the au pair.
We will continue to report on this story as it moves through the courts. Please send your comment to me at this blog.
I think it is terrible that the Swiss au pair was not charged and allowed to return home. I also read online that she posted at least one of the child's photos she took on a Swedish website. I don't know why but maybe she was into child pornography and was trying to sell the photos? I wonder if the screening the au pair agencies are supposed to put into place actually find tendencies for pedophilia?
ReplyDeleteDo you have any information on what kinds of screening they do before they hire an au pair?
We are trying to find an au pair for our niece who just had a baby and she and her husband work full-time. Money is tight and they need to use an au pair because this type of childcare is very cost effective compared to the daycare they saw.
What kinds of questions should my niece ask of the au pair agency regarding the psychological screening of the au pair? Will they tell her?
Thank you and this is a great resource for all host parents! Great job and please continue your work - parents need this kind of information when it comes to providing childcare for their children!
Thank you Kate. I wrote a response to your question (see Psychological Screening of Au Pairs) and I hope that it was helpful not only for you, but all prospective host families.
ReplyDeleteI would tell your niece to ask each agency she considers what kind of test they use to screen prospective au pairs and then do a little research on them online. If she has questions about specific tests and cannot find any information on them, have her contact us at the clearinghouse and we will do our best to research this ourselves.
Thank you Kate for a great question!