Rev. Lowe Found in Contempt for Running Care Homes

After two years of wrangling with state and local authorities, the Rev. Kenneth Lowe of the Universal Life Church was found in contempt of court Monday for operating unlicensed board-and-care homes in Orange County.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Judith M. Ryan found Lowe guilty of 45 counts of operating four homes after a judge ordered them closed. Lowe, 56, of Mission Viejo will be sentenced Monday. He could receive a maximum penalty of 7 1/2 months in jail and a $45,000 fine.

The order followed raids at Lowe’s four homes on Nov. 14, 1984, in which investigators allegedly found 16 residents who needed better medical care. Some residents, including a terminally ill cancer patient who died in one of Lowe’s homes three days after her arrival, should have been in hospitals or nursing homes, Deputy Atty. Gen. Richard Spector said Monday.

Home in El Toro

Lowe no longer operates three of the homes, but he has continued to operate a board-and-care home at 24602 Jutewood Place in El Toro.

Spector, who prosecuted the case, said Monday his office intends to work with relatives of the elderly residents at that home to relocate them “in an orderly fashion.”

The minister, who had requested that Charles Manson act as his lawyer, represented himself in the suit filed by the state attorney general’s office.

Lowe would not say whether he will appeal the ruling.

“I don’t have that authority,” Lowe said. “I work for God through the church. I can’t say what the church officers have decided.” He refused to identify those officers. He was sole owner/operator of the homes.

Lowe has filed two lawsuits, one for $8.5 million and another for $1 million, against the state stemming from the raids on his homes.

The 1984 order to close the homes was based on the grounds that Lowe’s homes were not licensed as required by state law. Lowe contends he did not need licenses for his “board-and-room” facilities, which he likened to “motels,” because medical treatment was never provided.

“I’ve never understood the charges,” Lowe said outside the courtroom Monday. “We provide non-medical services like changing dentures and helping (patients) shower. I provide the housing and furniture.”

Medical care and medicine, he said, was dispensed by aides who contracted directly with the patients or their families.

But former employees testified during the 13-month trial that they dispensed prescription drugs daily, gave injections and performed other procedures. Former employee Kristi Watson also testified that several people were tied to their beds at night.

“I was giving shots and inserting catheters,” said Watson, who worked at Lowe’s El Toro and Mission Viejo homes in late 1984.

Under state law, any facility that provides assistance such as helping the infirm to dress and go to the bathroom is regarded as a board-and-care home and must be licensed. Any facility providing medical care, including the administering of medication, is considered a nursing home and must meet even higher standards.

“At the time, I didn’t really have much experience,” Watson said Monday. “They were definitely operating a board-and-care . . . and that the people in the facility hired us, that’s not true. He hired us.”

Watson, 18, added: “The people were very well taken care of. I don’t understand why he didn’t get the license. . . .”

Lowe, ordained by the Modesto-based mail order ministry, did apply once for a state license to operate board-and-care homes but was denied.

He said Monday that the families of his residents have written letters to the court saying they were pleased with the care and didn’t want their relatives moved.

Spector countered: “I don’t think the family members have an idea of what really goes on inside the homes. I don’t think they have the best picture of what goes on there.”