Local News in Brief : Youth Worker Charged With Molesting Boy, 10

A Glendale man who was a volunteer with a North Hollywood program for mentally retarded children has been charged with molesting a 10-year-old boy in the program.

Glendale police arrested Dennis Michael Marks, 43, a volunteer at Activities for Retarded Children (ARC), on March 6. He was charged with two counts each of oral copulation and lewd and lascivious behavior with a child. He was released on $17,500 bail later that day, authorities said.

Glendale police waited until late last week before announcing the arrest because the case was still under investigation, according to officials.

Marks is to be arraigned in Pasadena Superior Court April 10. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 32 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine.

Police began investigating Marks on Feb. 17 after a psychiatrist who was treating him reported the incident to the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services, authorities said.

Marks is also under investigation in the molestation of a 7-year-old retarded boy in 1985, officials said.