HomeMenlo ParkAccused molester falsely claimed to be a Big Brother
Accused molester falsely claimed to be a Big Brother
Randy Haldeman put this on his LinkedIn page.
Randy Haldeman, the west Menlo Park man arrested on suspicion of molesting young boys over the course of 27 years, wrote on his LinkedIn page that he had volunteered with the Big Brothers and Sisters of America Organization for 30 years.
He even posted a touching story about a boy he met through the organization that he takes on bike rides and trips to Great America Amusement Park.
Randy Haldeman. Facebook photo.
But Dawn Kruger, the Bay Area CEO of Big Brothers and Sisters, said yesterday that his claim is a lie.
"He was not a big brother with our program, here or anywhere," Kruger told the Post.
The organization checked its local and national databases to see if Haldeman had ever volunteered with the organization, and he hadn't.
Haldeman wrote in his LinkedIn profile that he recently met a boy through Big Brothers.
"My latest 'Little' is a boy named Toni, of Tongan descent, who lives with his mom and four sisters. I really enjoy spending time with him, whether it's working on homework, taking bike rides, going to Great America, to the breach or Raging Waters. He's got a big smile and bigger heart and is a joy to hang with. I taught him how to play checkers, and now he beats me most of the time…." Haldeman wrote.
Big Brothers and Sisters sent a request to LinkedIn that the company scrub any mention of the organization from Haldeman's page, Kruger said.
Big Brothers and Sisters of America Organization matches up adults with children and teens, who then form a mentor/mentee relationship aimed to help kids stay on the right track.
Mentors are vetted
Kruger said all mentors are vetted through a multi-step application process. They fill out an application, are interviewed by the nonprofit's employees and a criminal background check is conducted, including a sexual offender registry check. All mentor applicants must also provide three references, who the nonprofit also interviews.
Once a match is made, the organization constantly checks in with the child and their family to make sure the volunteer is treating the child right, Kruger said. The organization also sets guidelines on activities the pair can do together that more or less limits their time together to a couple of hours every week or every other week, Kruger said.
Haldeman, 58, is accused of sexually abusing boys between 8 and 13 years old from 1987 to 2015. Haldeman's victims that police have already interviewed knew him as the photographer for a swim team that practices at the Ladera Recreation Center at 150 Andeta Way in Portola Valley, according to San Mateo County Sheriff's Detective Rosemerry Blankswade.
When deputies arrested Haldeman at his west Menlo Park home on the 2000 block of Camino de las Robles Thursday morning, they had spoken with three people who said that Haldeman had abused them, Blankswade said.
Since news broke about Haldeman's arrest, more victims have come forward, said Blankswade. The sheriff's office has been speaking with these new victims and working on furthering its case against Haldeman.
It is possible that if deputies are able to build cases around any other victims that come forward, Haldeman can be re-arrested and booked into jail at a higher bail, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, who has not seen Haldeman's case file yet. Haldeman's first court appearance is set for Aug. 26.
Free on bail
Haldeman is out of jail on $200,000 bail, which he posted around 3 p.m. on Thursday, said Blankswade
Deputies were told in January that multiple sexual assaults had occurred at the Ladera Recreation Center. That tip came from an adult who knows one of Haldeman's victims, Blankswade said.
The Sheriff's Office asks that any victims of Haldeman or anyone who may have information about his conduct around children, contact Detective Joesph Fava at (650) 363-4192 or jfava@smcgov.org or Detective Sgt. Joe Cang at (650) 363-4008 or jcang@smcgov.org.
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Swim Team Parent says:
August 6, 2019 9:07 pm at 9:07 pm
Media reports keep referring to Mr. Haldeman as a photographer for the Ladera Recreation District swim team. That's not technically accurate. He was just a parent with a kid on the team who volunteered to do an end-of-season video each summer that highlighted the kids' accomplishments that summer. He was one of hundreds of parents on the pool deck over the years who have volunteered to keep the swim team going. In fact, every parent with kids on the team is required to volunteer so his involvement was not only "normal," it was required. There was no way Ladera Rec could have vetted him to prevent something like this because they can't check backgrounds on every single parent whose kids want to swim. What's more, even if they had, nothing would have shown up. He had no record.
August 6, 2019 10:45 pm at 10:45 pm
I'm sure the swim team parents are probably nervous now, having suspected for years that Randy was a pedophile but never acting on those suspicions.
The way this is going to work is that Randy will go to prison for a long time. Then the lawyers for the victims will move in. They'll get judgments taking everything he owns. When they've consumed that, they'll come after the Rec District and the swim team. The lawyers will ask why they didn't do more to protect these innocent children? Why didn't they spot the signs of a sexual predator.
The parents of the swim team have probably checked their homeowners policy and discovered they're not going to be covered for this.