A PAEDOPHILE employed to check-off voters at a school on Victoria’s election day would have to expose his criminal background to get a job at next year’s federal poll.
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Beechworth resident Jeremy Kewley was employed by the Victorian Electoral Commission to work at Rutherglen Primary School for the state election on November 24.
Under the VEC’s rules, no police checks are done on staff employed for elections.
However, the scrutiny of staff by the Australian Electoral Commission includes an examination of criminal conduct.
“The AEC’s policy is to undertake an employment prescreening process (inclusive of a police check) for staff to be offered identified polling official positions at federal elections and byelections,” a spokesman said.
That means if Kewley wants to work on next year’s federal election in Indi he will have to declare his convictions.
Kewley was jailed for 23 months in 2016 after pleading guilty to two counts of indecent assault, 14 of committing an indecent act on a child, two of producing child pornography and one of possessing child pornography.
The former Blue Heelers actor’s sexual assault victims, all boys, ranged in age from nine to 14 with the offending between 1989 and 2011.
Kewley, who had residential connections to Mitta, was released from jail earlier this year and has since been living in public housing at Beechworth.
In response to community disgust at Kewley working at the Rutherglen school, the VEC announced it would review its processes around the employment of election staff.