Does a closed Investigation show up on an employer background check?

[swalsh411]

I am a regular poster on this forum but for the purposes of protecting my privacy I created a new account.

I was wondering if once being the subject of a now closed Federal investigation into distribution of child pornography would show up when a potential employer ran a background check.

Brief History:

In 2007 I was the subject of an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation into online trading of child pornography. As best I can figure somebody in one of the apartments in my building was using my internet connection to go into child porn chat rooms and trade pictures and movies. They raided my apartment and took my computers. (they were returned about 9 months later) The affidavit in support of the search warrant had my name, address, DOB, DL #, and SSN because the Internet account was in my name. I filed a FOIA request and received back a document from ICE showing the investigation is closed.

While the agents were in my home and once again a few days later when one of them called me I declined to answer any questions. I was never detained or arrested, so it goes without saying that no charges were ever filed.

Will this show up in a background check? Or is there no way to know for sure? I know I can pay to run a check on myself but I wasn't sure if this is the same information that would be seen by a potential employer. I have no other criminal/arrest record whatsoever.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Not relevant to my question

 

[cbg]

There is no way to know for sure. All background checks are not created equal. What will and will not be seen on any given background check depends on what information is asked for, how far back the employer goes, and to some degree who the employer is. Not even all employers will see the same information on a background check since not all employers ask for the same info. To get the same information as an employer, you'd have to ask the same questions as the employer you're referring to.

Now, is it LIKELY that this will be seen by the average employer? Probably not. But it can't be ruled out entirely.