SOUTH-CENTRAL : Boys Home Closes Over Abuse Charges

Citing allegations of physical abuse, the state Department of Social Services has suspended the operation of a group home for mentally disturbed boys.

Department officials said the action came after repeated complaints of physical abuse from three boys living at Harmony House, 1960 LaSalle Ave.

A Dec. 23 order for the temporary suspension of operation claimed that on one occasion between Oct. 1 and Dec. 18, 1992, Cammie Turpin, the president of the home, hit a child with the cord from an electric iron. On other occasions between Oct. 13 and Dec. 16, 1992, two boys testified that Turpin and staffer Pat Way hit a resident in the head with a telephone, beat another with a leather belt and slapped another.

Turpin and her staff could not be reached for comment.

The home’s six residents, ages 11 to 17, have been moved to foster homes, said Amy Albright, a spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services.

“It was determined that there was imminent danger to the children living there,” said Pam Fielder, a legal analyst for the department. “That’s why we closed the house.”

Fielder said her office has received a letter from Turpin saying that she will contest the allegations at a hearing this month at the state Office of Administrative Hearings in Los Angeles.

If the department finds that the allegations have merit, Turpin’s license to operate the home could be revoked and she would be barred from operating group homes in the state for at least two years, Fielder said.

The facility was initially licensed on Feb. 23, 1984, state officials said.

The administrative hearing will begin at 9 a.m. on Jan. 21 at 314 W. 1st St.