Girl Who Informed on Parents Stirs Up a Furor

Bobby and Judith Young, the Tustin couple whose 13-year-old daughter turned them in to police after hearing a lecture on drug use, were charged with possession of cocaine Thursday and ordered to appear in court next month.

Bobby Young, who runs a masonry business out of his home and also works as a bartender, was still in the Orange County Jail Thursday night after an appearance in Municipal Court in Santa Ana. His wife, a federal bankruptcy court file clerk who was not at work Thursday, was freed Wednesday.

Orange County Municipal Court Judge Manuel A. Ramirez ordered them to return to court Sept. 23 to enter pleas.

Deanna Young, an only child, turned her parents in to Tustin police shortly after midnight Tuesday. As evidence, she brought police a trash bag containing what was believed to be an ounce of cocaine with an estimated street value of $2,800 and smaller amounts of marijuana and pills. She said it all belonged to her mother and father.

Earlier in the evening, the teen-ager had attended a Lutheran church lecture given by a drug prevention officer with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Police said Deanna told them she then decided “to do something about the drugs in her home.”

Bobby and Judith Young were arrested and booked into the Orange County Jail early Wednesday on suspicion of possessing cocaine for sale. But Deputy Dist. Atty. James J. Mulgrew, the prosecutor handling the case, said after a court appearance Thursday afternoon that he decided to charge the couple only with possession because it would make them eligible for a drug diversion program. Participation in a diversion program could lead to dismissal of charges, he said.

“Although there was a significant quantity of cocaine that was seized, I felt that, given how the case was initiated, the possible disposition of the case and the evidence we had, the simple possession charge was more appropriate,” Mulgrew said. “My perception of what this girl did was she was trying to do something that she felt would help her parents. And I think that the system ought to give them the opportunity to provide the help they need, if they need it.

“I just feel we ought to give some consideration to the fact that it is a family situation and to what I believe are the true desires of the daughter who brought the situation to light.”

Handcuffed and wearing a mustard-colored jail uniform at his court appearance, Bobby Young answered only “yes, sir” when questioned and said “thank you, sir” after Ramirez ordered him freed on his own recognizance.

However, he was still being held in jail Thursday night on a warrant that was issued when he failed to appear in court because of a speeding ticket.

Young’s court-appointed attorney, Deputy Public Defender John Lee, said the girl’s father was “understandably shocked.”

“He was angry, insofar as it would be a natural reaction,” Lee said. “But he was not expressing specific anger toward any specific person.”

Meanwhile, the blond-haired, blue-eyed junior high school student remained in protective custody at Orangewood, Orange County’s shelter for abused, abandoned and dependent children. As reporters and television crews clogged phone lines, shelter officials said they told Deanna about the media stir her actions had created and tried to prepare her for what lies ahead.

“If this tells you anything,” said Bob Theemling, Orangewood’s director, “I went down to talk to her to kind of prepare her for all this and explain what will happen at the custody hearing for her.

“She said, ‘But I’m supposed to go to camp next week.’

‘I Think She’s OK’

“I think she’s OK. But right about now, we’re listening for the chopper and waiting for Nancy Reagan to land with her anti-drug campaign.”

A juvenile court hearing is scheduled today to decide whether Deanna should remain in the county’s protective custody.

An attorney will be appointed at that time to represent the teen-ager, said Superior Court Judge Phillip A. Petty.

Petty, who is temporarily presiding over Orange County Juvenile Court, fended off reporters’ requests Thursday for interviews and pictures of Deanna, who has sparked national attention with her unusual family drug crusade.

“We are trying to look out for her best interests and protect her,” Petty said.

Thus far, Deanna has been shielded from the limelight, spending Wednesday and Thursday at the county shelter with youths who had no idea she was becoming an instant celebrity, Theemling said.

Chatted With Girlfriend

She was “getting along just fine with the other kids” and attended classes offered for those her age, Theemling said, adding that she spent Thursday afternoon chatting on the phone with a girlfriend whom her social worker had permitted her to call.

The friend told her, “ ‘Hey, it’s crazy out here--you won’t believe all the news people and stuff,’ ” Theemling said. He added that she did not seem fearful of her parents, but expressed concern about them when he told her about the custody hearing and the parking lot full of reporters that she could expect will be waiting for her before today’s court proceeding.

“It’s almost got a Little Orphan Annie quality to it,” he said of the girl, who is to enter Tustin High School as a freshman next month. “It’s mostly golly and gee, are they going to be all right? She comes across as just the all-American teen-ager who was concerned about her parents. But she is anxious about all this.”

Police said Wednesday that the youngster was aware that the consequences of her blowing the whistle on her parents might include an indefinite stay at the county shelter.

Still, Dr. Lloyd Strelow, pastor of the Peace Lutheran Church and School of Tustin where Deanna heard the pivotal drug lecture, said Thursday that he doubted the teen-ager fully comprehended all the repercussions of her bold move.

“I’m concerned about the publicity, if it will make things hard for her and her family,” said Strelow, who nevertheless added that “it was a good thing for her to do.”

Not a Member of Congregation

He said Deanna is not a member of the congregation but has attended several youth functions with friends. He said the anti-drug talk was part of a regularly scheduled youth program organized by parent volunteers.

“Although I certainly can’t speak for her, I’m sure that when she made the decision to do this I doubt she had any idea about the amount of publicity it would generate.”

Thursday afternoon, in the well-groomed Tustin cul-de-sac that has been Deanna’s home for five years, classmates rode their bicycles to her driveway. Some of them wondered where she was; many of them knew. They said Deanna earned good grades and was popular in school. They said she has Marilyn Monroe posters and pictures of eyes--human and cat--adorning her bedroom inside the Youngs’ green ranch-style home.

“She likes eyes,” said Annette Sikorsky, 15.

Added Annette’s 13-year-old sister Monica, who attended Columbus Tustin Intermediate School until June with Deanna: “She’s pretty happy. She has so many friends at school I can’t even count them all.”

Did their friend do the right thing by turning her parents in, they were asked?

‘What She Did Took Courage’

“I think she was right,” Monica said. “I know I couldn’t live with my parents doing something like that. What she did took courage and, knowing her, she thought about it for a while. It wasn’t something she did right off the bat.”

Residents in the quiet, middle-class neighborhood said Thursday that they were surprised by the arrests. Kathy Peterson, who said her husband has worked for Bobby Young and the Sunrise Builders masonry business that he operated from his home, said she thought Deanna was brave and hoped her parents would forgive her.

“I just feel so bad for the girl,” said Peterson, who lives around the corner and cleans a house two doors down from the Youngs’ home once a week. “It must have been the hardest thing she’ll ever do in her life. I hope all will go well with her but I’m very glad she did it--for herself and her parents.”

“I was completely shocked and surprised. Nothing really exciting ever happens over there,” said Jay Lear, referring to the Youngs’ house next door. “Nothing I saw would make me think anything like that (drug use) was going on.”

Elsewhere in Tustin, Dean Gerald Propst, the 18-year-old friend who drove Deanna to the police station with the drugs, seemed dazed by all the attention. He was caught by surprise when he arrived for work Thursday morning at a Tustin sandwich shop and found that the story had reached the media.

He had been eating pizza with his girlfriend Tuesday shortly before midnight, Propst said, when he got a call from a friend who also knew Deanna.

“She told me what was going on that night and they needed my help,” Propst said. “She (Deanna) did the right thing; she did the best thing. She was very calm. She did perfect. If you were in a house where you’d asked them to stop (using drugs) before, and they hadn’t stopped, and you’d got all jazzed up about doing something about it at a lecture. . . .

“She’s a great kid. It’s her friends who I see more often. I worked at McDonald’s and they came by right before I got off work. They were my best customers. She--she is one of the greatest young kids I’ve ever known.”

Times staff writers Juan Arancibia, Gary Jarlson, Kristina Lindgren and John Spano contributed to this story.