By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

News of a Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu van driver accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting, robbing and drugging a teenage girl should have the community hopping mad.

Whether Anton Myklebust is guilty of these charges will have to be determined by a court of law.

But regardless, the public has the right to ask why Myklebust, a convicted felon who served time for burglary and who had been out of prison just a matter of months, was in the employment of the organization, driving a van marked with the charity's well-known, well-respected name, and apparently on a run to people's homes to pick up charitable donations.

The public has the right to demand assurances that this will never happen again.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu organization has thus far declined comment. They won't talk about their hiring practices, whether they did a background check in this case, and won't say whether steps will be taken to make sure this won't happen again.

It would be horrible if this one incident tarnished the good image of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

The agency has a most noble mission in our community.

Nothing has a positive effect on a young person's life like regular interaction with a solid, caring adult. It is the best anti-drug, anti-gang, stay-in-school elixir. Big Brothers Big Sisters offers the best solution to so many of the social and educational problems of Hawai'i's youth. The agency does good work.

Indeed, the organization has a rigorous screening process for their volunteers who work with kids, including requirements for numerous personal references and background checks.

But for an organization to be truly great, it has to be clean and straight top to bottom and when there is a lapse, as there certainly appears to be, there needs to be swift correction, open communication with the public and iron-clad assurances that something like this will never happen again.

And to all the charitable organizations who ask us to go through our closets and cupboards to find the jacket we never use, the extra blanket we don't need, the duplicate punch bowl set:

Don't send a felon to our homes. Don't send a convicted thief to come look through our cast-off household items. Don't give a burglar our home addresses and the chance to case the neighborhood. We're doing you a favor. Don't turn our good intentions into a liability for everyone on our street.

Yes, felons who have done their time should have the opportunity to work and earn their way in this world, but not unsupervised with the keys to a van and a list of home addresses. At least not until they've proved themselves trustworthy. If a person is wearing your logo and driving your vehicle, we need to be able to trust them as much as we trust your agency.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.