MANHATTAN -- Convicted sex offenders and other criminals were hired for years to referee city public high school sports games, the New York Post reported.
The revelation came from a report that was never publicly released, and was obtained by the Post through a Freedom of Information Act request.
According to the paper, "scores" of felons -- including convicted rapists, drug dealers, and one individual who sexually abused a 13-year-old girl -- were flagged by the Department of Education as not employable, but were hired anyway to referee games for the Public School Athletic League.
The report said that the PSAL didn't start screening its referees until the 2008-09 school year after an employee recognized a girls' basketball official as a sex offender, the Post said. The referee, Andre Thomas, was convicted of having sex with underage girls, the paper said.
Another sex offender, William C. Ventro of Staten Island, who was convicted of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in 1982, had officiated 80 varsity and JV basketball games over six years, the Post reported.
A lack of internal communication between the DOE and the PSAL led to the hirings, according to the report.
The report was put together by the office of Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon, a city agency with the authority to investigate criminal wrongdoing within the New York City School District.
Condon's investigation began in 2007 as a probe of one Brooklyn referee, and was expanded once it was learned the problem was more extensive, the Post said.
The Department of Education and the Office of Special Commissioner of Investigation didn't comment, the paper reported.