Officer Admits Mistake In Allowing Sex Offender To Adopt

Officer Admits Mistake In Allowing Sex Offender To Adopt

Man Apparently Threatened Suicide After Children Taken Away

September 4, 2003

A state probation officer admitted Thursday that she made a mistake in allowing a Northville man who was a registered sex offender to adopt children. SEX OFFENDER

Scott Francis, a convicted sex offender, armed himself with a gun and threatened to take his own life as Northville police surrounded his home for nearly five hours on the night of Aug. 25, Local 4 reported.

Police say the man's adopted children were removed from his home after an investigation revealed that Francis had sexually assaulted his adopted son.

"We had received allegations that he had sexually assaulted one of his adopted children," said James Petres, Northville police chief.

Francis was registered as a sex offender after being previously convicted of two offenses of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

A plea agreement banned Francis from any unsupervised contact with children. But on Thursday, a state probation officer admitted to making a mistake by allowing Francis to adopt.

Ron Cyr, the landlord who rented the home to Francis, was shocked to hear of the man's criminal record.

"I was just wondering how someone who's on a list like that can even get foster kids," Cyr said.

Francis was scheduled to undergo psychiatric evaluation, Local 4 reported.