A former social worker was arrested on Sunday and charged with sexually molesting a 13-year-old boy.
Phillip T. Young, 44, of Buffalo, is charged with sexual assault, committing a criminal sexual act and endangering the welfare of a child.
Police said the suspect once served as a case worker for the boy's family when Young was employed at the Buffalo Urban League.
Officials at the Urban League confirm they hired Young in 2000 when they took over My Brother's Keeper, a group that provided similar services but closed. All of the organizations cases and employees were transferred to the Urban League.
But officials at the Urban League failed to run a background check on Young before hiring him. If they had, Young's 1995 conviction for sodomizing an 11-year-old boy would have been discovered.
But since no such check was done, the Level 2 sex offender was allowed to work with children.
"He slipped through the cracks," said Brenda McDuffie, president of the Urban League.
Young was fired in 2006, McDuffie said, after he violated policy by taking a young child to his home.
"At that time we did not do annual reviews. That was one of the new protocols we put in place," said McDuffie.
Now, all Urban League employees have their backgrounds checked at least once a year.
Young is being held in the Erie County Holding Center. He has a felony hearing scheduled in Buffalo City Court on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.
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