Vetting procedures: Ian Huntley hid his true nature from school officials who employed him, coming across at his interview as "thoughtful and mature".
Because of a failure in police checks, they were unaware of his sinister past, which revealed a sexual obsession with girls.
Senior staff at Soham Village College filled in a standard form in his presence during the interview. The form was then passed on to police to allow them to check for any criminal record.
As part of the checking process, Huntley was required to disclose his home address, which he gave as Ribston House, High St, Barrow-upon-Humber, North Lincs; any other address in the past five years; and any previous names he had used in his past. He did not reveal any other name.
He described his previous job as an "operative".
The checks were administered for the school by a private educational personnel agency, as was usual, and carried out by Cambridgeshire and Humberside Police.
The results were made available to education authority officials at Cambridgeshire County Council.
To establish his identity, he was required to provide a birth certificate, passport or driving licence. He also gave his national insurance number.
Huntley was offered the caretaker's job and began work on November 26th, 2001, even though at that stage the police checks had not been completed.
The results of the police checks were returned on January 4th, 2002, and revealed nothing of concern.
"His application showed a consistent history of education and employment in the Grimsby and Immingham areas," said an education authority source.
"There were no unexplained gaps or inconsistencies. He made it clear he wished to settle down with his fiancée Maxine."
Cambridgeshire County Council already knew of the Huntley family.
Huntley's father, Kevin Huntley, had been the caretaker at nearby Littleport primary school for several years.
His mother, Lynda Nixon, was a cleaner at Soham Village College.
The couple were at the time living apart in Littleport.
"He admitted he had no previous experience as a school caretaker but said he had an understanding of what the job entailed," added the source.
"His father, Kevin, had held the job as caretaker at Littleport for two or three years. He had a previous history of factory-type work. No-one could see any problems."
Huntley, who was using his mother's name Nixon at the time, was interviewed by a panel made up of Soham Village College principal Howard Gilbert, vice-principal Margaret Bryden and a school governor.
"This was a normal panel of three," added the source.
"They were all experienced in interviewing.
"They paid particular attention to child protection issues . . . The panel's report said he was 'thoughtful and mature' and the panel had no reservations about him. He was interviewed and appointed.
"He had a six-month probationary period. He lived initially with his father because the caretaker's house was being redecorated. He subsequently moved in and took up residence with Maxine."
Mrs Bryden said Huntley was chosen from four or five shortlisted candidates and offered the post pending "police protection checks".
Huntley said he and Maxine Carr, who accompanied him to the interview, were planning to marry and start a family.
Mrs Bryden added: "He was very enthusiastic."
Candidates were asked what they would do if a pupil at the school was "obviously attracted" to them.
"Huntley said he would be reporting either to myself as his line manager or the principal if anything was untoward, or to a senior member of staff," said Mrs Bryden.
In the spring of 2002 the new caretaker told his bosses that he was changing his name to Huntley - his father's name - for "family reasons".
Education authority officials decided a second round of police checks under the name Huntley was not necessary.