Sex Offenders Can't Be Teachers, But What About Camp Counselors?

June 21, 2010 — -- Sex offenders are prohibited from being hired as teachers or school bus drivers, but the law does not prevent them from sitting in a lifeguard chair, teaching a karate class or many other child-related professions.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is proposing legislation that would close what he is calling loopholes in the federal law that currently allow pedophiles to work with children.

"Sex offenders are different than just about any other criminal because the percent of recidivism is huge and the chance for rehabilitation is unfortunately small," Schumer told ABCNews.com. "Whatever demons haunt these people don't go away."

According to the Center for Sex Offender Management, a part of the U.S. Department of Justice, between 12 and 14 percent of sex offenders are known to have repeated their crimes. The data does show, however, that many sex crimes go unreported and the statistic could be low.

Current federal law, known as the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, leaves it up to states to decide where convicted sex offenders can be employed. Under the law, there are no restrictions on a laundry list of list of child-related careers that aren't on the government's payroll, such as dance instructors, magicians, carnival workers and children museum workers. Working in an ice cream truck is, in fact, already prohibited for registered sex offenders under New York law.

"Why weren't these jobs excluded when the law was originally passed?" asked Schumer. "The answer is that in most states there was no list of [registered sex offenders]."