Salvation Army Bails Out Ex-Official Convicted of Molesting

Police and prosecutors expressed anger Friday that the Salvation Army put up $2,000 bail, allowing a former commander to be released from jail pending an appeal on his conviction of molesting girls at the organization’s Burbank headquarters.

Gilbert Crowell, 28, an ordained minister with a wife and three children, was convicted July 1 on four counts of child molesting and two counts of battery, all misdemeanors, involving three girls.

A month later, he was sentenced to two years in the Los Angeles County Jail, where he was held until Thursday, when the Salvation Army provided Crowell with the $2,000 needed to post a $20,000 appeal bond, authorities said.

Maj. Joe Noland, secretary general of the Salvation Army’s Southern California division, said the money was loaned to Crowell, a 10-year veteran of the organization, from interest on an employee retirement trust fund. Noland said no money from charitable donations was used to aid the former employee.

Those who arrested and prosecuted Crowell were angry about the Salvation Army’s action.

“I find it hard to take that they do not disassociate themselves from him,” Burbank Deputy City Atty. Carolyn A. Barnes said of Salvation Army officials. “I think they are just having a hard time accepting the fact that someone in their organization is guilty of this.”

Detective Mike Gough of the Burbank Police Department said he did not believe that the money used to help Crowell came from charitable contributions.

“Somebody gave that money to them to feed somebody that was hungry,” Gough maintained. “I think it is outrageous that they are using it to help a man who was convicted of molesting people in their own offices.”

Noland acknowledged that the organization hired a private detective to help prepare Crowell’s trial defense and provided money for his attorneys’ fees. He would not disclose how much money was paid the detective or for the attorneys’ fees.

Despite his conviction, Salvation Army officials believe Crowell may be innocent and support his efforts to clear his name, Noland said.

“Until the case is finalized and every avenue is pursued and exhausted, we are standing behind him,” Noland said. “At this point we feel strongly he is innocent.

“But guilty or not, it seems like the Christian thing to do,” Noland said of providing Crowell with financial support. “Gilbert never caused a problem and has an impeccable record. There is the possibility that he is innocent. It is our obligation to assist him until the case is absolutely finalized.”

After his release from jail, Crowell went to live with his family in an apartment at the organization’s Redondo Beach facility, where his wife, Conchita Crowell, is office manager, Noland said. The family rents the apartment from the Salvation Army, Noland said.

Also Acquitted

The jury deliberated three days before returning the guilty verdict against Crowell. While convicting him of the charges involving the three girls, the jury acquitted him of five battery charges and two molestation charges involving two other girls.

The three victims, from 11 to 16 years old, testified that Crowell, a captain with the organization at the time, took them individually into offices at the Burbank headquarters where they watched him undress. The girls said Crowell masturbated and apologized afterward.

Authorities said the incidents occurred during the year before Crowell’s arrest at his Tujunga home April 29.

Before the arrest, the Salvation Army conducted its own investigation and found no substance to the allegations against Crowell, Noland said. Several Salvation Army officials testified on Crowell’s behalf at his trial.

Crowell was suspended by the Salvation Army after his arrest and was dismissed following his conviction, as required by the organization’s bylaws.