4 More Molestation Counts Filed Against City Day Care Driver

Four additional child molestation counts were filed Wednesday against a van driver at a city-run day care center in Echo Park, bringing to eight the number of counts against the part-time worker.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda Reisz filed the additional charges against Charles Chavez, 33, of Los Angeles, after a 5-year-old boy and his 6-year-old sister, both of whom are enrolled in the child care program at the Echo Park Recreation Center, accused Chavez of fondling them through their clothing on several occasions over the past few months.

Similar allegations were made against Chavez last month by two girls, ages 5 and 10. Three other children accused another part-time worker, Simon Bermudez, 37, also of Los Angeles, of either fondling them or urinating in their presence.

As a result of the earlier accusations, Chavez was arrested Oct. 18 and charged with four felony counts of lewd conduct with a child. He has pleaded innocent to the charges and is being held on $20,000 bail. No date has been set for his arraignment on the new counts.

Bermudez was arrested, but later released. City attorneys have not decided whether to bring charges against him.

The arrests, which became public last week, set off a storm of controversy after it was disclosed that neither man had undergone fingerprinting and background checks as required by state laws governing licensed day care facilities.

Lt. Marlin Warkentin of the Police Department’s Ramparts Division has said that such a check would have turned up a criminal record on Chavez that would have prevented him from legally working with children. Warkentin, however, would not disclose the details of that record. According to Councilwoman Gloria Molina, the man had been accused of lewd conduct with a prostitute.

Complaints from Molina and parents of children who attend the day care center prompted officials to order fingerprinting for 2,000 part-time city Recreation and Parks employees who work with children.

The arrests also set off an investigation of the day care center by the state Department of Social Services, which this week was considering whether it should revoke the center’s license or take some other administrative action. The department was poised to make a decision Monday, when it learned of the new accusations by the brother and sister.

Daniel Garcia, legal counsel for the Department of Social Services, said his investigation had also disclosed other irregularities at the center, including its failure to report the molestation allegations to the state within 24 hours as required by law, failure to segregate children from the public when they played in the park and failure to provide adequate bathroom facilities.

Garcia said Wednesday that he and his supervisor were reviewing the case in light of the new counts against Garcia. It was likely, he said, that some administrative action would be taken, but no decision had been made by late Wednesday afternoon.

Chavez’s preliminary court hearing on the original four counts is scheduled for next Wednesday. Reisz said that at that time she will ask that his bail be doubled.