New Jersey Mom Helps Bust Sex Offender Working for Census Bureau

May 20, 2010— -- A New Jersey mother who helped police nab a convicted sex offender who had been hired as a census worker said it was a strong "gut feeling" that led her to suspect the man at her front door was dangerous.

Amy Schmalbach never expected to open her door to a known predator when the Census Bureau came knocking.

"I just had an overwhelming bad sense about this person," she told "Good Morning America" today. "It was just a gut feeling. I'd never had that before. It just literally washed over me."

Schmalbach was home alone with her young son when Frank Kuni knocked on her door. Schmalbach said she had been expecting a visit from the Census Bureau after misplacing the form sent out to all residents this spring.

At first, she said, she didn't think much of it.

But then, Kuni, who gave the name "Jamie," started asking questions, and Schmalbach became uncomfortable.

"He was very shifty when he was writing down the answers," she said, adding that his eyes were "darting all over the place."

When her son came outside and she turned to shoo him back into the house, it hit her.

"I looked closely at this man, and I realized I recognized his face from the New Jersey registered sex offender list," she said.

Schmalbach tried to finish answering Kuni's questions even as he moved in closer to her, she said, and tried to linger in front of her house.

A quick check of her computer confirmed that Kuni, who lived less than a mile from Schmalbach's home, had served four years in prison for a variety of crimes, including endangering the welfare of a child and inappropriate contact with children.

Schmalbach called the police, and Kuni was arrested and charged with impersonating a public official and false representation.

Schmalbach said she checks her state's sex offender list every two months or so, a habit she picked up about six years ago when her nephew was born.

"I want to know who my neighbors are," she said. "In this day and age, you can't be too careful."

Census Regional Director Fernando Armstrong called Kuni's employment "an isolated incident."