Are Sex offenders & Felons in Your Home?

BOSTON (FOX25, myfoxboston) - We tell our kids to beware of strangers. But do we take our own advice?

Everyday, people are letting strangers into their homes, no questions asked. Repairmen, contractors, cleaning people, you name it. Think about it. What do you really know about the people you let in your home? You probably assume if they're working for a reputable company, they've been checked out and have a clean record.

But we discovered there are no guarantees and you can't be too careful about who's working in your home.

E&R Construction boasts on its website that it serves with honesty, integrity and competence. But the company is keeping a big secret from its customers -- a secret about company owner Edward Trainor 's past.

Trainor is in and out of people's homes doing all sorts of remodeling. He's also a level 3 sex offender, listed in the state's Sex Offender Registry as someone at a high risk to re-offend. His crimes include rape of a child with force and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

Trainor is also a state registered contractor and licensed construction supervisor. His sex offenses do not disqualify him from working. We tracked down Trainor, but he wouldn't answer our questions.

"Most people don't have a clue as to who they're bringing into their homes," says security consultant Robert Siciliano. "You should always be suspect of a complete stranger that you invite into your home, regardless if they're there from a contractor who you may know, like and trust. That person could still be a bad guy."

Priscilla Mason called Direct TV when the satellite service at her home in Lynn stopped working. The company sent Craig Cushing to fix the problem. "I never really gave it a second thought to put my pocketbook away or anything," says Mason. "He (Cushing) was running up and down and in and out, just flying. He did get five of the TVs done right away. He must be smart."

But after the repairman left, Mason grabbed her pocketbook to go to the store. "There was no money in the pocketbook," she says. "I thought, that's funny, I don't remember spending that, well I got to go to the ATM first. I always keep the card kind of jutting out, that's the one I use. That wasn't there."

The Direct TV repairman was also inside the apartment of Debbi Stilkey, Mason's upstairs tenant, who left two necklaces on her dresser.

"They were right there. I just sat up and looked over and said ugh, they're not there no more," recalls Stilkey.

Cushing was arrested later that same day, after breaking into someone else's house. Police found Mason's ATM card in his pocket. It turns out Cushing has a criminal record, including drug and burglary convictions. He was on probation at the time of his arrest and is now serving a year in jail.

"CORI check, what happened to the CORI checks," says Stilkey. "Isn't it mandatory Direct TV has that?"

Direct TV spokeswoman Jade Ekstedt tells us the company requires "all of our Home Service Providers, including subcontractors, to conduct extensive background and chemical screening tests."

But that policy did not stop Cushing from working for Direct TV. Cushing was hired by a subcontractor, AAA Satellite, which happens to be owned by his father.

After we started asking questions, Direct TV cut all its ties with AAA Satellite.

"I'm a trusting person, but I don't even trust myself sometimes," says Jordan Geoffroy, who is living proof people should worry about who they let into their home. His criminal record is lengthy -- six pages in all -- including larceny and fraud convictions.

"I done 21 months; I did a year before that," Geoffroy says. "I did 90 days before that. So I've been in and out for the past five years."

Geoffroy was released in June and hired by Golden Circle in Hudson, New Hampshire, to go into people's homes and sell vacuum cleaners. He's on probation and therefore has to tell his probation officer where he's working. Geoffroy says he disclosed his criminal record on the first job application he filled out. "And he just told me not to mark anything, not to mark yes, not to mark no," Geoffroy says. "He ripped up my first application and I had to fill out another one and I didn't mark anything on it."

And so Geoffroy, a convicted felon, went to work selling vacuum cleaners inside people's homes. Those customers had no idea about his past.

Geoffroy says he didn't commit any crimes while selling vacuums and has since quit that job. He says he's speaking out because he believes the company is putting customers in danger.

"What if one of the other guys was a sex offender or he was in jail for attempted murder or something violent ... going into your house with a single old lady or a mother, that would be kind of freaky," Geoffroy says.

Says Siciliano, the security consultant: "Any corporation that hires a convicted criminal (who) has a tendency to theft or violence is an irresponsible corporation and they should be called on the