UPDATE: No background check conducted on arrested employee,

after a former employee was arrested for allegedly inappropriately touching a juvenile. as 47 a-b-c’s lili zheng reports — they’re revisiting hiring protocols. track 1 joanne crowson — says she never thought about background checks when it came to hiring help leading ponies and guiding kids. 05:03:31 95 percent of the time, we hire kids that are 9 to 14, 15 years old 38 track 2 but that’s all changed. crowson is co-owner of angels gather here pony rides in harrington. a company which had employed 33-year-old john blackburn. the houston man was arrested friday — after police say a representative of fifer orchards reported a nine year old child took part in the pony rides offered by angels gather here on the orchard grounds in late october. the nine-year-old child told her mother a man — identified as blackburn — inappropriately touched her. delaware state police confirmed he is registered as a tier three sex offender — meaning he’s been convicted of the most serious of sex crimes. crowson says blackburn was fired immediately after they found out about the incident at fifer orchards. but she admits — her company had no idea about his past — because there was no background check. she tells 47 a-b-c — they hired blackburn off a recommendation from a friend. moving forward — crowson says they’re considering hiring only females. 05:08:14 if we were to ever hire anyone other than a kid to walk our ponies, yes there would definitely be a background check. 22 track 3 as for the company — crowson says they’re staying positive and trying to regain trust. 05:08:31 they’ve always trusted us before. an incident like this has never happened, and i would certainly like to say will never happen again 37 lili zheng. 47 abc. blackburn has been charged with unlawful sexual contact of a child by a registered sex offender and failure to re-register as a sex offender within three days after a change in employment. police say — more charges are expected. however — there are no charges pending against the pony ride company. at last check — blackburn remains behind bars at james t. vaughn — on one-hundred and six thousand dollars cash bond. a playground in an ocean pines park was dismantled