Officials: Sex offender gave alias to get census job

A registered sex offender from Pennsauken who used an alias to get a job as a census taker faces federal charges for providing the U.S. Census Bureau with false statements and a false Social Security number, officials said.

Frank J. Kuni, 47, applied for the job using the alias Jamie Shepard, according to Paul J. Fishman, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey. Federal officials filed a complaint against Kuni on Wednesday in federal court in Camden. On Thursday, he was in Camden County Jail with bail set at $80,000, facing charges of impersonating a public official and false representation.

Using the alias, Kuni passed a preliminary background check and completed four days of training on April 30, census officials said. He visited several residences in Pennsauken earlier this month, including the home of a woman who recognized him from the state's sex offender Internet registry and called police.

Pennsauken authorities arrested Kuni on May 5, the same day the Census Bureau fired him. Days earlier, census officials said, he failed a fingerprint background check, a $140 million security measure implemented for the 2010 census. - Darran Simon