One time, Kat Conner Sterling (@katconnersterling_) was babysitting for a family, and she had a really bad feeling about them. It turned out her intuition was right because the father was actually a registered offender.
“People do background checks on the babysitters, but it has never occurred to me to do a background check on the family I’m going to babysit,” Kat said.
From the moment she set foot into this family’s house, she could tell something was off. There was a dark, sinister vibe that made her feel nauseated.
The family had two kids, and every time she was alone with the dad, she felt sick to her stomach. For seemingly no reason at all, a voice inside her head kept telling her to run.
She told her mom and friends about this dark feeling and made it a point to avoid being alone with the dad as much as possible. One day, she was helping the kids organize their school stuff when she came across an official-looking stack of papers.
The papers were from his parole officer and had something to do with asking permission to take the kids out of state.
The papers didn’t mention what his crime was, so she and her friends did a little investigating. Apparently, he was a registered offender and had committed crimes against young girls.
Kat immediately decided not to return to the house and told the family that she was no longer comfortable babysitting for them, but didn’t go into detail about what she had learned.
“I wish I had been braver to tell them like, hey, I think you definitely should’ve revealed that to me and let me have that choice whether I felt comfortable in the home,” Kat said.
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“I guess, legally, they didn’t have to reveal that to me, but I feel like I should’ve known.”
According to the documents she had found, the courts were aware of his background, so there was nothing she could really do except for prioritizing her own safety and removing herself from the situation.
Her story is a stark reminder that gut feelings exist for a reason. Maybe it’s time that babysitters start running their own background checks. After all, trust is a two-way street.
In the comments section, someone asked Kat if the kids appeared alright to her.
“Kids were ok as far as I could tell. They were very young. I don’t want to share too much because I feel weird about sharing such private info,” Kat clarified.
“But according to documents I found, courts were aware of the situation and knew he had the kids. So really nothing for me to do at that point but take myself out of the situation.”
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
