Cops: Predator sought jobs as nanny

MONTPELIER, Vt. - A man who traveled to several states to look after children and recently met a family through an online nanny service has been charged with sex crimes involving a boy in his care.

Douglas J. Shepherd, 23, of Fort Myers, Fla., was charged Wednesday after he went to a Vermont hospital and told doctors that he was having suicidal thoughts because of his contact with the 10-year-old boy whom he had been caring for, court records say.

Vermont State Police Detective Benjamin Katz said yesterday that he'd never heard of an online nanny service being used by a sexual predator.

"This case is really disturbing because the offender is going out of his way to find his victims and he's getting paid for it," said Katz, of the Northwest Unit for Special Investigations, which investigates sex crimes. *