(WTOL) – Orlando Reyes-Cairo was hired as a professor of Spanish at Owens Community College in 1999, which is one year after he got out of jail for attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a 13-year-old boy in north Toledo.

Representatives of Owens Human Resources Department say there was not a policy in place in 1999 to do to do background checks or to require potential employees to disclose such convictions. Reyes-Cairo served one year in prison for the conviction.

Students say they are uncomfortable having a convicted sex offender as a teacher. William Hiatt dropped the class after learning of Reyes-Cairo’s criminal record and says the professor should not be working there. “He may never do anything, but there’s always the remote chance that he could do something,” said Hiatt.

Owens VP of Human Resources, Cynthia Eschenburg, says the school created a policy three years ago to cover background checks and criminal disclosure. She says they reviewed Reyes-Cairo’s case and decided to keep him on staff. ”He was a low-level offender. There have been no complaints of continued behavior. Not any complaints at all regarding this instructor,” she said.

Reyes-Cairo would not agree to an interview but did say by phone: “I should have been taken off the registration list after ten years. That has expired, and now they have added extended registration. It is totally unfair.” He also said he never committed the crime.

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