FBI relaxes hiring standards on past prostitution, theft, and bestiality

FBI lowers the hiring bar for the agency.

The FBI used to reject anyone if they admitted that they had hired sex workers in the past, stolen from an employer, or engaged in acts of bestiality. But now, these factors are not immediate deal-breakers, CBS reported. The FBI is willing to give candidates a pass on prostitution, as long as they have not hired sex workers three or more times. And the hiring of the sex workers must not have taken place within the last 10 years, the report said. This leeway has been allowed because a person may have hired a sex worker in a location where prostitution is legal. But a person who was in a position of "trust" who solicited sex would still be automatically disqualified from FBI employment. Examples of positions of trust are those who work in the fields of public safety, education, health, social work, finance or law. Being a member of the military was not among the listed categories, and it was not clear if they would be treated as such.

Stole from employer? It's fine if it's more than three years ago

Under the new eligibility rules, a person who stole from an employer is not automatically disqualified as long as the incident occurred more than three years ago. The new standards also specifically address applicants who have engaged in past acts of bestiality or animal cruelty – saying they may still be considered for the bureau as long as the incidents took place before the age of 18. In a statement, an FBI spokesperson denied that the bureau is allowing people who have a history of criminal sexual acts to work there, and said the FBI "has and always will maintain some of the highest suitability standards for its applicants and employees in the US government." "Over the years, the FBI has had a number of applicants who suffered sexual abuse in their past, causing polygraph questions about prostitution, bestiality, or other similar issues to affect their polygraph through zero fault of their own," the spokesperson said.

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