Minister Guilty of Molesting Girls at Salvation Army

The former commander of the Salvation Army in Burbank--an ordained minister with a wife and three children--was convicted Friday of molesting three girls inside the organization’s offices.

Gilbert Crowell is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 1 on four misdemeanor counts of child molestation and two counts of battery. Crowell, 27, could be sentenced to up to a year in prison for each offense, Burbank Deputy City Atty. Carolyn Barnes said.

Crowell remains free on his own recognizance but was ordered by Glendale Municipal Judge Charles E. Horan not to associate with females under 18 years old.

Crowell was acquitted of five charges of battery involving two other girls and was acquitted of two molestation charges.

A seven-men, five-women jury deliberated three days before delivering the verdict.

The three girls, ranging in age from 11 to 16, testified during the weeklong trial that Crowell took them individually into offices of the Salvation Army’s Burbank headquarters and asked them to watch as he undressed. Crowell masturbated, the girls said, then apologized afterward.

Barnes said the molestations occurred over a 12-month period, which ended a few weeks before Crowell was arrested April 29 by Burbank police at his home in Tujunga. The battery charges stem from fondling two of the girls, authorities said.

The three victims are residents of Burbank, Glendale and Sun Valley, Barnes said. Two of them were members of a Salvation Army youth group, Barnes said. The incidents often took place on Sunday afternoons, the prosecutor said.

Crowell, a Redwood City native who joined the Salvation Army after graduating from high school, took command of the Burbank corps two years ago after serving at Salvation Army branches in Oceanside and San Pedro.

After his arrest, Salvation Army officials praised Crowell as a talented and dedicated young man with an impeccable record of service. Still, the organization suspended him pending the outcome of his trial.

Col. David Riley, provisional commander of the corps’ Southern California region, said Crowell told his superiors in April that the mother of one of the girls had confronted him with her daughter’s allegations of mistreatment.

The Salvation Army investigated, found the charges were not substantiated and allowed Crowell to continue his duties until his arrest, Riley said.

Salvation Army officials testified on Crowell’s behalf at the trial. Crowell did not take the stand.