Judge Rejects Bail for Suspect in Molestations at Preschool

Drawing applause from a courtroom packed with concerned parents, a Superior Court judge denied bail Friday to a La Mesa man accused of molesting and torturing 10 preschool-age children at a church day care center.

Judge Frederic L. Link ruled that the 50 charges facing Dale Anthony Akiki, 33, indicated that he employed a “reign of terror” over the children left in his care during a 15-month period ending in August, 1989.

“This is a very, very serious case,” Link said. “I have to assume there is truth to these charges.”

Thomas Malowney, Akiki’s lawyer, had argued that his client, who suffers from water on the brain, a club foot and several other health problems, was being made a scapegoat because of his unusual and potentially frightening appearance.

“If he was a danger, why did they let him walk around free for two years?” he asked the judge, suggesting that prosecutors lack physical evidence to support their allegations and are attempting to use Akiki as a “Bogey Man.”

“They had no case then, and they have no case now,” he said.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery, the prosecutor, said that, in addition to the grand jury testimony of seven children who attended the Faith Chapel in Casa de Oro, her case will rely on behavioral symptoms observed by parents months before any allegations of abuse were raised.

One mother said her daughter was so terrified of having her head near water that it was impossible to wash her hair, Avery said. Grand jury testimony later revealed that at least one child had had her head dunked in a toilet, she said.

Testimony was also heard that a child became hysterical when he was taken to a hospital to get stitches, apparently because he had a flashback of “the defendant holding him down and hurting him,” Avery said. The indictment filed against Akiki said he inflicted injuries on children with a needle.

Avery maintained that some of the children remain so traumatized by Akiki’s treatment that they have attempted suicide--one by running in front of a car, another with a knife.

Throughout the bail hearing, Akiki, whose family says he has a below-average I.Q., sat with his head resting on one hand. When the judge made his ruling, Akiki shook his head sadly.