The National Foundation to
Prevent Child Sexual Abuse (NFPCSA) is calling for a nationwide boycott of
McDonald’s restaurants in light of the revelation last night by Nashville
station WTVF that numerous McDonald’s
restaurants across the country have hired convicted sex offenders despite
the fact that these offenses could have easily been uncovered through
background checks.

Jody Gorran, founder and president of the NFPCSA, and also known as
“Mr. Background Check,” said, “It is absolutely unconscionable for an
organization such as McDonald’s, which holds itself out to the public as a
safe, child-friendly environment, to allow restaurants in their system to
knowingly or unknowingly hire convicted sex offenders to work in such close
contact with children who come in either as customers or as fellow
employees!”

Gorran contends that retrospective studies of adults suggest that 1 of
3 girls and 1 of 6 boys will be subjected to some form of sexual abuse by
age 18. These studies further indicate that 46 percent of child molesters
are non-family members who are known to their victims.

The NFPCSA reveals that sexual predators are generally unrecognizable
to the community and parents of children. Child molesters who are known to
their victims are frequently trusted adults in the community, like
teachers, scoutmasters, coaches, day care workers, volunteers and employees
of other youth-serving organizations, clergy, friends of the family, and
neighbors. These are the people with whom we entrust our children on a
daily basis.

Gorran believes the odds are very good that there are volunteers and
employees in your community sexually molesting your children or your
child’s friends. Why does he believe this? “Because most child victims do
not tell,” says Gorran. “That’s why a child molester can have as many as
150 victims before he’s ever caught. Unlike a bank robbery, where everyone
knows that a crime has been committed, because most child victims do not
tell, no one else knows that there has been a crime,” Gorran explained.

“That’s why it is so important that organizations that provide services
to children do in-depth background checks of their employees and
volunteers, preferably using fingerprint checks through the FBI, whether
it’s the local McDonald’s, the local Little League, or the local Boy
Scouts,” says Gorran.