Irvine : Care Homes Appeal Loss of State License
Machado Family Homes, ordered closed by the state last June after allegations that some of their retarded patients had been sexually abused, began their appeal Wednesday before a state administrative law judge.
The hearing, which is being held in a meeting room at the Irvine Hilton hotel, is expected to extend at least eight days, after which William F. Byrnes will report his findings and recommendations to the state Department of Social Services. The department, which originally ordered the Machado homes closed, may then accept or disregard the findings.
Two months before the state closed the four homes--three in Cypress and one in Stanton--Orange County’s Development Disability Center filed suit against the homes, accusing Norlan Machado Jr., one of the owners, of abusing two male patients.
Center officials have said sexual abuse extended over four years.
Two patients became pregnant while at the homes, they said.
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