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No company has attracted children more successfully than McDonald's.

 "They tout their environment as being safe and kid friendly."

It's a message delivered through its commercials, its products, even its kid-friendly spokesman.

"You always think of Happy Meals, the playground, the golden arch, Ronald McDonald."

By some estimates, 96 percent of all American children recognize Ronald McDonald -- second only to Santa Claus.

And the company boasts that Ronald's Play Places make it the world's largest operator of children's playgrounds.

"And it's a mecca, it's a magnet apparently for child molesters."

Customer Thomas Wesley says, "The last thing you expect is somebody who's a monster working behind the counter."

But when Wesley visited a McDonald's in Franklin, Tennessee, that's just what he says he discovered: a sex offender -- convicted of soliciting sex from a minor -- who'd also approached him for sex in a public park.

"Right when I saw him, I thought, 'Oh, God that's the same guy that told me he worked at a McDonald's and I knew was a pedophile," Wesley recalls.

Probation officers had rated Nicolas Aloyo as a "high-risk" to commit new sex crimes -- and the judge released him on condition that he accept "no employment ... in contact with minors."

The local franchise concedes Aloyo had worked at this McDonald's for some time prior to his recently being rearrested for possession of child pornography.

"It certainly makes you wonder," Wesley says, "how many other people may be working at McDonald's that have the same record."

In fact, our investigation discovered -- all across the country -- sex offender after sex offender after sex offender working under the golden arches.

Among them: convicted child molester Oliver Marsh, a high-risk offender.

He was recently arrested on new sex charges, picked up at the Delaware McDonald's where he worked.

Add to that: eight other McDonald's workers we found listed on that state's sex offender registry.

A twice-convicted rapist and child molester in Indiana, we discovered, heads a list of some 13 McDonald's employees on the sex offender registry.

Another convicted child molester in Alaska is among 14 McDonald's workers -- sex offenders -- who've been listed on that state's registry.

And a convicted molester and child pornographer in Lousiana leads a list of 16 sex offenders who, the state's registry says, work at McDonald's.

And the types of offenders we found -- child molesting, molestation of a juvenile, sexual abuse of a minor, rape -- surprised Jody Gorran, founder of the National Foundation to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and a leading proponent of background checks.

"We are talking dozens and dozens of sex offenders - mainly from just four states that report the employers names," Phil Williams tells Gorran.

"Unbelieveable," he replies. "I mean this is outrageous. It tells me that this is a nationwide problem."

Gorran says the problem is that sex offenders, especially child molesters, are driven by impulses that never completely go away.

"The predator wants to get near a child. He will do anything he can."

"And McDonald's is a pretty good place to do it?" Williams asks.

"Without a doubt. And he gets paid for it."

McDonald's says it has a policy against hiring sex offenders at its 8,000 or so company owned stores.

But at the 18,000 franchise stores that operate under the golden arches, they're free to hire anyone they want.

And inside Ronald's restaurants, those policies have sometimes turned tragic.

A Colorado McDonald's hired child molester Martin Vasquez. There, in 1989, Vasquez molested a 3-year-old boy after pulling him into a restroom.

Sex offender Jason Drake went to work at a Texas McDonald's, where in 2001 he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old female co-worker.

And an Indiana McDonald's hired Andrew Morris, an ex-con who had sexually assaulted a teen girl. In 2003, he threatened to kill and assaulted a 16-year-old female co-worker.

And get this: Morris was rehired at another area McDonald's after serving his time.

"It boggles the mind," Gorran says, "because it's obviously one thing not to do a background check and have someone slip through. It's another thing to know that the person has a criminal history and allow them back."

In Aloyo's case, the local franchisee will only say he never should have been hired, but they won't comment on whether they conducted even the most basic background check.

Wesley says it was easy.

"I looked up the sex offender registry - and his picture's right up there."

With McDonald's claiming it's got children's best interests in mind, advocates say it's a situaton that goes against everything the company says it stands for.

Gorran says, "The face of McDonald's is Ronald McDonald, not Mr. McPredator."

The franchisees are not required to do background checks, and a statement sent to use by McDonald's suggest the corporation may not always do background checks.

In fact, we can't tell you how many other child molesters or other sex offenders are working at McDonald's restaurants here in Tennessee or anywhere else.

That's because in most states, including Tennessee, sex offender registries don't have information about employers.

So the public can't find out -- until something bad happens.

Some companies back US immigrant protests

 Major American companies that rely on cheap labour took a surprisingly supportive view of the army of workers taking part in immigrant rights protests.

Immigrant workers were in turn, however, nervous about taking part in a strike, which they had feared could lose them their jobs.

 McDonald's, the fast-food giant, even paid tribute to its foreign workers and said it "strongly supports" immigration reform.

"Immigrants have contributed to the growth and prosperity of our nation and they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity," said a statement issued by the company to mark the "Day Without Immigrants" protests.

"Some of our employees may be participating in today's activities. We respect their right to do so. To meet our customers' needs, some of our restaurants may be operating with limited crew, limited hours or drive-thru service only," it warned.

Food giants such as Tyson Food Inc. and Cargill Foods said they would close about 20 plants between them on Monday. Goya Foods announced a complete halt to daily distribution.

Gallo Wines in California said it also closed some operations because of the protests.

All the companies said they understood the sentiments behind the protest. "We share many of the same concerns about some of the proposals in Washington," said Cargill spokesman Mark Klein.

Some employers groups were not so happy and gave only begrudging backing.

The National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR) said the strike and boycott of schools "could hurt companies that have been vocal advocates of treating illegal workers fairly through comprehensive immigration reform in Congress".

"No one understands how vital immigrants have become to America's economy better than the chain restaurant industry", said Scott Vinson, Vice President of Government Affairs for NCCR.

"Unfortunately, these work boycotts have the potential to handcuff the very businesses that have worked so hard for immigration reform."

But many firms organised a Tuesday-to-Saturday workweek to lessen the impact of the protests, which brought more than a million people onto the streets of US cities.

And the word on the streets was that many immigrants were wary of upsetting their employers or losing a day's business.

In the Jackson Heights neighborhood of New York, known as "Little Colombia" because of the concentration of Colombians, the "Day Without Immigrants" was mixed.

A sign on the America's Stores supermarket declared: "We are closed because we love to support our wonderful neighborhood". Other stores put up signs saying: "I Love Immigrant New York".

But many chose to stay open in the Boro of Queens, where two thirds of the residents are foreign, mainly Hispanic, according to the 2000 census.

Jorge Cubillos kept open his Latina Pharmacy. "The sick cannot wait," he said, while stressing he understood the "good reasons, human reasons" for not going to work.

Other corner stores and cafeterias also defied the strike appeal. One Hispanic shop worker, who requested anonymity, told AFP she had been ordered to turn up by her boss who did not ask whether the staff wanted to take part in the protests.

Construction sites in some of America's boom towns also depend heavily on imported labour.

At Rockville, in the Washington suburbs, only a few dozen workers turned up at a major apartment construction site where there are normally 400 people.

"In 20 years, I've never seen something like that," said Arnolfo Lopez, a crane driver.

"The electricians are not here, the carpenters are not here, neither are the concrete men," he declared.

Those who did turn up said it was largely out of fear for the future.

"The problem here is if you don't come today, the next day you're fired," said Eduardo Soriano, a 28-year-old Salvadoran who has a one-year permit to work in the United States.

"I came for my kids, my money," added Dimas Salvador, another immigrant worker.