‘Big Brother’ Convicted of Sex Assaults on Boy

A professional stunt man from Granada Hills was convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting an emotionally disturbed 11-year-old boy assigned to be his “little brother” by Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles.

Mark D. Yerkes, 28, stood with his head bowed as the verdict by a San Fernando Superior Court jury was read. Friends and relatives who came to court with Yerkes broke into tears when they heard the verdict.

Jurors deliberated less than three days before announcing their decision. Another jury, which heard the case last year, could not reach a verdict, causing a mistrial.

Yerkes faces up to 20 years in state prison when he appears for sentencing Feb. 28 on three counts of sodomy, three counts of oral copulation and three counts of lewd conduct with a child.

Judge Robert D. Fratianne did not order Yerkes into custody because his attorney was out of town Thursday and Yerkes had no lawyer to represent him at the reading of the verdict. Fratianne ordered Yerkes, who remains free on $7,500 bail, to return to court Jan. 3 for a hearing on whether his bail should be revoked.

Yerkes would not comment on the case.

During the trial, the victim, now 13, testified that Yerkes would show him pornographic magazines and molest him after taking him on weekend outings as part of the Big Brothers program.

A number of pornographic magazines were found at Yerkes’ Granada Hills home after his arrest in November, 1983, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth Loveman.

Two doctors who examined the boy disagreed on whether there was any scarring to verify the boy’s claims. But both doctors testified that other physical evidence indicated the boy had been sodomized.

Civil Suit Filed

Yerkes was charged with molesting the youngster during October and November of 1983, court records showed. A civil suit against Yerkes and Big Brothers, filed on behalf of the boy two years ago, alleges that the molestations began almost immediately after Yerkes was assigned to the boy in 1981, said attorney Allen Botney, who is representing the family.

Since reporting the assaults to a teacher at a Van Nuys school for disturbed youngsters, the boy’s emotional problems have worsened and he has tried to kill himself, Loveman said after the verdict. The boy now is in a private West Los Angeles home for emotionally disturbed youngsters.

Loveman said Yerkes was dropped as a “big brother” immediately after the boy reported the abuse. He said the Big Brothers organization was “extremely cooperative” during the two-year criminal case. Officials at Big Brothers declined comment on the case.