The city of Riviera Beach, Fla., has admitted that it did not perform a required background check on its athletic director, who was later discovered to be a registered sex offender.
As reported by ABC affiliate WPBF in Tequesta, consultant Abram Elam ran the city's athletic department, including the Pop Warner football league, for a year before his criminal background became an issue.
Riviera Beach native Elam, a former NFL player, signed a $25,000 contract with city manager Jonathan Evans in August 2022 to be an outside consultant athletic director.
But Pop Warner officials found out last month and sent letters saying they would not participate with the city if Elam were involved in any way.
After repeated public records requests, WPBF's Terri Parker received this admission in an email from the city manager's assistant Valerie Grimsley: “There was no background check completed on Mr. Elam prior to his contract."
City policy is to run background checks on all employees, which is backed up by state statute.
It's not clear why there was no background check on Elam or if city manager Evans was aware of Elam's sex-offender status. In Elam's contract, it notes that while he'll provide oversight and assistance to the youth sporting activities, “CONSULTANT will not have any direct coaching contact with youth participants.”
After Elam's past conviction came to light regarding sexual battery against an adult woman while he was at the University of Notre Dame, the city wrote Pop Warner that it would abide by its rules for this season — ostensibly not using Elam as director.
The city did not say it would not renegotiate Elam's contract, which was up for renewal.
