Military veteran dad wrongly flagged as SEX OFFENDER while enrolling young daughter at school thanks to serious flaw in dystopian 'background check system'

By NATASHA ANDERSON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 18:53, 30 July 2026 | Updated: 18:56, 30 July 2026 A military veteran was wrongly flagged as a sex offender while enrolling his daughter at school due to a flaw in an automated background check system.  Jonathan Castillo recently visited Las Brisas Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona to register his daughter for the upcoming academic year, KTVK reported. Upon arrival, he was photographed by school staff, which he believed was for his visitor's badge. But an hour later the school principal called him and said he was barred from school grounds after being linked to a Wisconsin sex offender registry. Principal Alicia Keelum told Castillo his name and photo were flagged for a 'sex registry sexual assault' out of the Midwestern state and that an investigation had been opened, he alleged. Castillo, a veteran who served as a combat medic, says he has never been to Wisconsin and he is not a registered sex offender.  He wrote a letter to Keelum and district Superintendent Dr Curtis Finch on Tuesday demanding an explanation for the 'erroneous identification' and information about the vendor used in the background check. Castillo says he received an apology from the school on Wednesday. Staff also told him that the vendor flagged him because his middle name and 'certain physical characteristics' matched a person on the Wisconsin sex offender registry, he claimed.  Military veteran Jonathan Castillo was wrongly flagged as a sex offender while enrolling his daughter Las Brisas Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona Upon arrival at the school, he was photographed by school staff, which he believed was for his visitor's badge But an hour later Castillo was notified that he had been barred from school grounds after being linked to a Wisconsin sex offender registry Castillo, however, says he is unsatisfied with the school's response and has called for greater accountability during the background check process. 'Who authorized the decision to say this person is not allowed on school grounds? Just a third-party computer or a human who verified this?' he asked during his sit down interview with KTVK. 'I have no idea how you made that judgment in the first place or how you're going to ensure that doesn't happen again to me or other parents.' Security specialists warn that background checks can be 'notoriously incomplete' and 'unreliable,' especially if personal information is entered incorrectly. In Castillo's case, his name was not entered properly, which private investigator Rich Robertson told the outlet likely played a role in the mix-up. He noted that human error combined with the problematic automated databases can result in 'innocent people being snagged into being wrongly accused.' In a statement to the Daily Mail, the Deer Valley Unified School District said that student safety is the 'top priority.' As part of those efforts, the implemented the Verkada Guest visitor management system has been implemented districtwide for the upcoming school year. 'Verkada Guest screens visitors against publicly available sex offender registries during the check-in process. Before submitting identification, visitors are notified that their information will be screened against public databases. The district does not access or verify Social Security numbers through the system,' the spokesperson said. Principal Alicia Keelum told Castillo his name and photo were flagged for a 'sex registry sexual assault' out of the midwestern state and that an investigation had been opened, he alleged 'Recently, there was a situation in which the system generated a potential match based on similarities between information on a parent’s driver’s license and information contained in a public registry. Out of an abundance of caution, the parent was asked to remain off campus while staff reviewed the alert. School was not in session at the time. 'District staff confirmed that the parent was not the individual identified in the registry and resolved the matter in approximately one hour and 15 minutes. The district then contacted the parent, explained what had occurred, and apologized. The system was also updated to help prevent a similar mistaken match during future visits.'