Child Patients Posted on Porn Site

A respiratory therapist at the convalescent facility of nationally recognized Children’s Hospital of San Diego has been arrested on suspicion of molesting bedridden children and posting pornographic pictures of them on the Internet, officials said Thursday.

Nine former and current patients at the facility have been identified as possible victims, Police Chief Bill Lansdowne said at a news conference.

Wayne Albert Bleyle, 54, of Santee, an employee of the hospital for 25 years, was arrested Wednesday afternoon near the Viejas Casino and is set to be arraigned in Superior Court today.

Bleyle faces 20 counts of child pornography and two counts of molestation, Lansdowne said. He is being held in the downtown jail in lieu of $3-million bail.

The case against him began as part of a continuing investigation by a local and federal task force into child pornography on the Internet. No other hospital workers are under suspicion, officials said.

Hospital officials began notifying parents Wednesday night that their children may have been victims.

“They’re devastated -- just like we are,” said a tearful Pamela Dixon, administrator of the convalescent facility. “They trusted him -- just as we did. They feel extremely violated.”

Lansdowne said some of the pictures appear to have been taken with a cellular picture phone. Blair Sadler, president and chief executive of Children’s Hospital, said cellphones would no longer be allowed inside the facility.

Bleyle, who is married, had worked for a decade at the 59-bed convalescent facility, where the patients are so severely physically and mentally impaired that they need help bathing, dressing and eating.

Some of the patients are semi-comatose, others are terminally ill. Many stay for years.

The facility is one of the few skilled-nursing centers tailored to the needs of such children, officials said.

Sadler said Bleyle had passed pre-employment screening and, like other employees, had taken periodic classes on spotting child abuse. “There was no hint at all,” he said.

Lansdowne said Bleyle’s home computer contained more than 500 pornographic images of children. Serge Duarte, special agent with the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, said agents have identified people who have downloaded pictures taken by Bleyle.

A hotline has been established for parents concerned that their children may have been victimized: (800) 788-9029.

“We are outraged,” said Dr. Cynthia Kuelbs, chief of the medical staff at Children’s Hospital.

The hospital serves as a referral hospital for complicated medical cases involving children and is routinely listed among the best pediatric hospitals in the nation.

Four years ago, a detailed survey by Child magazine of pediatric hospitals named it one of the 10 best -- the only California hospital listed.