Mother Testifies Daughter, 4, Told of Being Molested at Day-Care : Hearing: Attorneys for operators deny story, say child was ‘coached.’ Administrative action will determine if facility’s license is revoked.

A woman testified at a hearing here Wednesday that her 4-year-old daughter told her that two women who operate a day-care home in Cypress had “played doctor” with her and sexually molested her.

A psychologist who examined the child this week also testified that the girl told him that the owner of the day-care home, Terri Borzoni, had “put pencils in my bottom.”

But attorneys for Borzoni, 36, countered that the child’s stories are inconsistent and unbelievable. They said that the little girl had falsely accused Borzoni and her assistant, Vicki Jimenez, 21.

“This child has been coached for three months,” charged Herbert Dodell, one of the attorneys representing Borzoni.

But the 4-year-old’s mother, whose name has been withheld, said her daughter was telling the truth.

“I have been inundated by (sexual molestation) details . . . ,” she said. “I don’t think she could contrive a dialogue like this unless it was based on reality.”

The conflicting views came during an administrative hearing by the state as to whether Borzoni’s day-care license should be permanently withdrawn. The state temporarily lifted Borzoni’s license last month after the allegations of sexual abuse surfaced.

No criminal charges have been filed in the case. The Orange County district attorney’s office announced April 10 that it would not file charges because it did not feel that there was sufficient evidence of criminal behavior.

However, the state Department of Social Services, which licenses day-care centers, said the state has a “good, strong case” against licensing the Borzoni operation.

Francine Kammeyer, staff counsel for the department, on Wednesday began presenting witnesses in the state’s effort to prove that sexual molestation actually took place at Borzoni’s Cypress home and that therefore her license should be revoked.

The state’s key witness is the 4-year-old girl. She is scheduled to take the witness stand this morning under very unusual circumstances.

Neither Borzoni nor Jimenez will be permitted in the hearing room when the child testifies. Administrative Judge Paul M. Hogan ordered the women excluded after Roger Kleinman, a Huntington Beach psychologist, testified that the girl would be unable to give meaningful testimony in the presence of the day-care operators.

Borzoni will be allowed to watch the child’s testimony via closed-circuit television.

Judge Hogan said he regretted having to issue the order keeping Borzoni and Jimenez from the hearing room when the child is present. He noted that such rulings are very rare because the U.S. Constitution requires that an accused be allowed to face the accuser.

“You have to remember, we’re dealing with a 4-year-old child,” the judge said.

The license case is being heard in a social services building on South Grand Avenue. Hogan will make a ruling after all testimony is concluded. The only penalty, if he rules against Borzoni, is that she will no longer be able to operate her day-care home.

The child’s mother testified Wednesday that her daughter had told her that Borzoni and Jimenez had fondled her and had put pencils in her vagina. The little girl also claimed that the two women were “in love” and occasionally walked around naked, the mother said.

But Dodell, in cross-examination, got the mother to admit that the little girl on Feb. 26 told a team of state child-abuse experts that she had not been molested at all. The mother said she thinks that the child did not feel well on Feb. 26 and simply did not want to talk.