SIMI VALLEY : Claim Against City Filed in Molestation

A 14-year-old Simi Valley girl who was sexually molested during a baby-sitting job interview last year has filed a $500,000 claim against the city, whose job referral service for youths initiated the interview.

The claim filed by the girl Tuesday at City Hall contends that the city’s Youth Employment Service bears responsibility for the incident because it did not follow its own guidelines for referring prospective employers to teen-agers.

City officials refused to comment on the claim, which seeks damages for psychological trauma allegedly suffered by the girl. City Atty. John Torrance said the city has 45 days to accept or deny the claim.

The claim stems from an incident June 19 when the girl, who was then 13, went to the home of former KNX radio newscaster Bruce G. Bernhart to interview for a job baby-sitting his two children.

Bernhart, 40, later pleaded no contest to a felony charge that he molested the girl during the interview. He was sentenced Nov. 22 in Ventura County Superior Court to a 90-day jail term and five years of probation, a court spokeswoman said.

Youth Employment Service’s written guidelines state that “particular precaution needs to be taken when males place a job order” for a baby-sitter.

During the girl’s interview with Bernhart, he told her he wanted to play a game and blindfolded her, she told Simi Valley police. While she was blindfolded, Bernhart touched her in a sexual manner, police said. The girl was not injured or detained, police said. After she and her parents filed a report with police, Bernhart was arrested in the middle of a newscast at KNX in Los Angeles.

Bernhart resigned from the station in the month after his arrest, a station manager said earlier.