The mother's boyfriend, again. How many times has it happened?
We've heard about beatings, molestations, murders. It seems like it's always the mother's boyfriend.
Every time the question comes up, didn't the mother know who she was inviting into her life and the life of her kids.
17 News shares some of the techniques we use when investigating stories. You can use free and public websites to check him out.
Sheriff's Deputies say a three year old Taft girl died after being beaten to death by her mother's live in boyfriend. How well did Trinity Hanna's mother know her boyfriend, before she let him into her home?
Before the Internet, finding out your loved one's background was timely and costly.
Think about it. You may be dating complete stranger. Some people meet at a bar, while others meet online. You know nothing about him, other than what he has told you.
What if your new guy is not being truthful? Your new boyfriend may have had run-ins with the law. You may want to check him out before you commit.
New tools make it easy and inexpensive to run a background check. "The common thing I get is how did you find that out or how did you find me and my standard answer is computer," explained Andrew Hanson, Licensed Private Investigator.
Andrew Hanson has been a private investigator for 12 years. When it comes to background checks, he says 80 percent of his calls come from women.
"I've found people that are registered sex offenders, people who've had multiple bankruptcies, people who have been kicked out of their house on multiple occasions for not paying their rent," said Hanson.
"I had a personal friend who asked me to do a background on his daughter's new boyfriend and their relationship ended that afternoon," he continued.
17 News decided to look up Eric Foster. He is accused of beating to death his girlfriend's three year old daughter. What could the child's mother have found out about him, just by looking at free public websites?
"As far as I'm concerned, the best search tool out there is Google," said Hanson.
http://www.google.com/ 17 News started by typing in a name and location. The Bakersfield Californian posts daily arrest records for Kern County.
http://search.bakersfield.com/?s=news&q=arrest+logIf you want to dig a little deeper, log on to the Kern County Superior Court website.
http://www.kern.courts.ca.gov/ Once there, click on the
Criminal tab, you can find out if your guy has a criminal record and if he's done time in the slammer. You can find out if he has been accused or convicted of a crime like DUI, domestic battery or murder.
If you click on the
Civil tab, you can find out if he has been sued, or whether he has been in a dispute with another person or business.
"Their civil life is equally as important as the criminal portion of it, again for the moral aspect of who this person is. Are they a responsible person? Bad debts, eviction, who wants them around anyway?" said Hanson.
Is your new beau married with kids? If you click on the
Family Law tab, you can find out if he is divorced or owes child support.
"I've had a couple of those where the incident was, 'oh I met this new guy and he works at this place and he's a single dad,' and it's like, 'no he's not,'" explained Hanson.
If you use Google to do a background check, you will find websites promising in-depth checks for a price. But do they really work?
Hanson told 17 News these websites are a waste of money but we wanted to see for ourselves. We looked up Eric Foster. One website charged us 50 dollars. It gave us his correct address, but it said he had no criminal record.
Hanson said if you have the cash, hire a private investigator. "I've got access to places you don't," Hanson continued.
If Angela Hanna had looked at court records, she may have found Foster had been charged with domestic violence and was currently undergoing court ordered counseling.
For additional information, please visit the official Megan's Law website at
http://meganslaw.ca.gov/
