Molester Getting Benefits but State Cuts Off Victim’s

The family of a girl held captive for 10 months by two child molesters says state aid for her therapy was cut off while one of her kidnappers continues to receive money from the same fund.

Tara Burke, now 8, was kidnapped in 1982. Nearly a year later she and another child escaped from a van parked in an industrial district of San Francisco.

She had been repeatedly molested by kidnapper Luis “Tree Frog” Johnson and another man, Alex Cabarga. Johnson was sentenced to 500 years in prison and Cabarga to 200 years.

Elizabeth Burke, Tara’s mother, complained last week to state Sen. Dan Boatwright, D-Concord, that Tara -- who required extensive psychiatric treatment -- was only eligible for a total of $10,000 from the state fund set up to help victims of crime.

The money has all gone to pay doctors who helped Tara adjust to normal life, but no more is available and the family says the girl’s emotional health has been steadily eroding.

The crime victim’s law was later amended to allow for a maximum possible payout of $46,000, but Maria Keller of the state Board of Control said the crimes against Tara occurred under the old law so she can receive only the old amount. “We are bound by the law. It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do,” she said.

Mrs. Burke said the family is on the edge of financial collapse and with no further therapy, Tara is beginning to regress.

The Burkes were further upset by news that Cabarga was drawing on a $10,000 pool set up for him under the crime victims law to pay for outside psychiatric care while serving his sentence.

The Board of Control ruled Cabarga also had been a victim of Johnson and was entitled to the money to help him recover.