AUGUSTA – The man who headed Maine’s efforts to teach English to non-native speakers received his teaching certificate in Maine despite a conviction years ago for molesting a child in Connecticut.

Bernard “Barney” Berube, 59, of Augusta was sentenced a week ago in Massachusetts for molesting two 10-year-old boys at a summer camp in 1976.

A year after that incident, Berube pleaded no contest after being accused of molesting a 9-year-old boy in 1977 in Connecticut. He quit his teaching job after being given a suspended sentence and being placed on probation.

Berube returned to his native Maine and received a teaching certificate in 1978 after filling out a questionnaire. That was the beginning of a long career in the Education Department that ended on Feb. 23, 2006.

The state is mum about whether it knew about the Connecticut arrest, the Kennebec Journal reported. Background checks mandated by the state in 1999 would reveal such a conviction now.

“There were not significant screening standards back then,” said David Connerty-Marin, Education Department spokesman. “Applicants were asked questions on the application form, and if they didn’t answer them honestly, we wouldn’t necessarily know. That obviously has changed significantly.”

Last week in Pittsfield, Mass., Berube was ordered to serve 90 days of a two-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to molesting two 10-year-old boys in 1976 while he was a camp counselor. He also was placed on probation for five years.

Berube had been a highly respected educator and served as director of the state English-as-a-Second Language, multicultural and bilingual education programs for the Maine Department of Education’s Special Projects Leadership Team.

Berube held a series of teaching certificates in Maine but most of his contact appeared to be with teachers. He also directed a three-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement to fund an Aspirations Retreat Camp for Refugee Youth. It enrolled refugee pupils in grades seven and eight.

His last teaching certificate expired in 2003. To renew it, he would have had to provide fingerprints and pass criminal background checks. He didn’t need a teaching certificate to hold the ESL job, Connerty-Marin said.