Day-Care Center Closed After Abuse Alleged
State officials have shut down an unlicensed day-care center that was operated in a Canyon Country home after parents complained that their children had been molested there by a teen-ager.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating complaints by parents of some of the six children supervised by June Rikenberger at the center in her home on Flower Park Drive, Lt. Don Bear said.
The state Department of Social Services closed the center earlier this month after investigators determined that “the complaints were substantial to the degree that we were concerned about the safety of the children,” said Kathleen Norris, a department spokeswoman.
Rikenberger operated the day-care center out of her home for three years without a license, Norris said. Rikenberger was previously licensed by the state to operate a center in Arleta, Norris said, but that license expired in 1987 when Rikenberger moved to Canyon Country.
Fred R. Bien, Rikenberger’s attorney, said that after the state’s investigation, Rikenberger closed the facility voluntarily, which was “best for all concerned. I have no idea if the allegations are true, but I don’t believe so.”
State and local law enforcement officials refused to identify the teen-ager suspected of molesting the children.
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