Preventing Sexual Assault (PSA), an organization at the University of Maryland, released a statement on Oct. 19 stating that R.J. Bentley’s, a bar in College Park, hired a bouncer that was charged with 2nd degree rape and is lisited on an offical sex offenders list. Within less than two hours, R.J. Bentley’s released a statement that the employee was fired.
“Thank you to P.S.A for bringing this unfortunate information to our attention. After reviewing the details, we have terminated this individual’s employment with R.J. Bentley’s. When hiring this individual, we were unaware of these wrongful acts and convictions,” the statement read. “We want to again thank P.S.A. for what they do for this campus, and for bringing awareness to matters like this.”
According to PSA President Hailey Chaikin, an email was sent last week to UMD sorority presidents stating that an R.J. Bentley’s employee was on a registered sex offenders list. After some digging, Hailey and her team were able to find the employee’s charges and contact R.J. Bentley’s.
“We were shocked and upset, and very heartbroken that this establishment hadn’t looked into this individual’s past,” Chaikin said. “As, you know, a bouncer of a bar of any sort you’re supposed to be helping girls, and helping women feel safe and preventing them from any foul play with men. If this person is a perpetrator themselves, you can just imagine how poorly that job will be done.”
Moving forward, Chaikin and the PSA hope to use this statement to set an example for other establishments in the College Park area and change the way that background checks and policies are enforced.
PSA also hopes that this university’s administration will soon acknowledge how instances like these happen under Betsy DeVos Title IX policies, which states that colleges are only required to respond to sexual assault alllegations off campus if the individuals involved are at a location in use by an “officially recognized student or institution organization, such as recogniiized fraternity or sorority housing or athletic housing.”
Meaning, this legislation would not include instances occurring at off campus bars like R.J. Bentleys, or other circumstances like fraternity parties at satellite houses.
“Individuals like this generally shouldn’t be on the premises of a university, especially interacting with, you know, young people that may or may not be intoxicated,” Chaikin said.
But, students at this university believe that these circumstances should have been prevented long before now.
“It is good that Bents addressed it so quickly once PSA brought attention to the issues,” fifth year student Olivia DeGonia said. “However, in such a forward facing position where people can be in situations where they are more at risk, such as when drunk, Bents should have done a more thorough check into who they hire. It should not fall on community to have to call on businesses to protect their safety.”
If applicable, criminal background checks for employement include sex offenses through the state registry. All U.S. states are required to maintain a sex offender registry which is public information. There is also a national sex offense registry, including all state, tribal and territory registries.
If R.J. Bentley’s completes background checks upon employment, the restaurant would have been aware of the fact that they were considering a sex offender before the employee was hired.
“Going forward, I hope that Bents and other bars in College Park think more critically about who they choose to employ,” sophomore Emma Stern said. “At the minimum, I think that none of these establishments should hire individuals that have a history of inflicting harm upon other people — such as sex offenders.”