Convicted

molester
volunteered
with kids

Charles Wendell Haines

Hamilton Spectator

STONEY CREEK (Jun 13, 2007)

A convicted child molester spent last Saturday teaching 60 kids flight safety
at Stoney Creek Airport.

Charles Wendell Haines, 79, volunteered at Young Eagle Day, a one-day

program that gives underprivileged children airplane rides. It's run through
the Experimental Aircraft Association.
Haines volunteered and taught flight safety to children eight to 17.
Haines said organizers never asked for a police background check. He
claims most EAA members already knew of his record.
"They knew a lot of what happened. I didn't pursue it," Haines said
yesterday. "Some people have asked about it. I say they have nothing to
worry about."
Peter Meszaros, vice-president of the EAA, confirmed some members were
aware of Haines's 1992 convictions. He said Haines was never left alone
with a child and posed no threat.
"We don't feel guilty in any way of anything," Meszaros said last night. "He
posed no danger to any child."
A check would have revealed that Haines was sentenced to three years of
probation for six counts of sexual interference involving girls six to 12.
Haines, a retired police officer, pleaded guilty to molesting girls on a school
bus he was driving in Stoney Creek. He also pleaded guilty to molesting a
relative in his care.
That news came as a shock to Settlement and Immigration Services
Organization, which sent 30 kids to the weekend event.
"I would have expected a heads up," said executive director Morteza
Jafarpour. SISO pays for criminal record checks on its own volunteers,
Jafarpour said.
Though not required by law, such checks are "industry standard" for groups
that work with kids, said Colin Green, past-president of Professional
Administrators of Volunteer Resources of Ontario.
Meszaros said the association has considered requiring checks for new
members, but hasn't had a reason to. The executive held an emergency
meeting last night, but he said no decision has been made on a change in
policy.
Haines said he's not a risk to children, adding he was even allowed to
continue as an air cadets leader after his conviction. He just pleaded guilty
to spare his accusers trial, he said.

"People make a mountain out of a molehill ... I did nothing wrong."

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