The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) says it will now require criminal background checks for “all new hires” and is working to adopt tougher hiring policies—after Alpha News’ exclusive reporting on a convicted sex offender’s employment in a high-level state role.
The department announced the changes in a letter to Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, following widespread concern over its hiring of Wilson Tindi, a Kenyan national on the state’s predatory offender registry who was earning $145,000 a year as Director of Internal Audit and Advisory Services.
“MDE has adopted a policy for criminal background checks for all new hires and is in process of developing and adopting further enhancements to hiring and personnel policies,” the agency wrote.
It added that new safeguards will focus especially on employees with access to student data or sensitive information.
The move comes just days after Alpha News revealed that Tindi was convicted in 2016 of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman and later detained by ICE for nearly 15 months while the U.S. government sought to deport him.
Despite his felony conviction and registration as a predatory offender, Tindi was hired into a top auditing role at MDE. He was dismissed on June 27 — the same day Alpha News inquired about his employment status.
In her July 1 letter, Rep. Robbins demanded answers from MDE, including whether a background check was performed and if Tindi’s role gave him access to sensitive financial or personal data.
MDE confirmed that Tindi supervised two employees and held an internal role, but declined to say whether a background check was ever conducted, citing data privacy laws.
In a letter to Robbins, the department acknowledged the controversy, writing that it was “deeply disappointed with the roll-out of this new division” and pledged to strengthen its hiring policies moving forward.
As Alpha News previously reported, Tindi was ordered deported by an immigration judge in 2016, but that decision was stayed on appeal. He was released from ICE custody in 2018 after a federal judge ruled that his detention had dragged on unconstitutionally.
After his release, Tindi joined the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency before moving to MDE.
Read the letter:
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Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
