Gay Youth Agency Accused of Abuse

Ending months of investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at a Los Angeles agency that operates group homes for gay teenagers, the state Department of Social Services has requested that the organization’s license be revoked.

In a detailed document filed Friday, the department alleges that staff members and other adults affiliated with Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services (GLASS) engaged in sexual conduct with teenage boys living in the organization’s group homes, plied them with gifts and--in one instance--threatened a youth.

The document also maintains that the organization’s founder and executive director, TeresaDeCrescenzo, failed to report suspected abuse to authorities and that other staff members knew of some of the incidents but did not take action to protect the youngsters.

As part of its action, the department has barred DeCrescenzo and two other others associated with the agency from continuing to work for any state-licensed social organization, including GLASS.

Contacted Tuesday night, DeCrescenzo dismissed the allegations as fabrications by troubled teenagers and said she will demand a hearing.

“None of those accusations is true,” DeCrescenzo said. “We have a protocol for reporting child abuse. We vigorously deny all of these charges.”

Once a hearing has been requested, the decision on whether to revoke the agency’s license to operate five group homes and three foster family agencies will be made by a state administrative law judge, who will hear the state’s evidence and the agency’s defense.

If the license is revoked, it will effectively shut down the agency, which houses 36 gay and bisexual youths in group homes and places 140 youngsters in foster homes.

The accusations, involving six teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18, are leveled against a variety of adults associated with the agency.

“On numerous occasions beginning at least as early as 1994,” the document maintains, “adults affiliated with GLASS, including staff members, members of the GLASS board of directors and volunteers, sexually abused or molested children who were placed with GLASS and for whom GLASS provided services.”

A night supervisor at one of the homes is accused of engaging in sodomy with one youth on several occasions, allegedly threatening to beat the boy if he did not do what he was told.

A former board member and current officer of the agency is accused of engaging in sex with the same youth, giving him gifts and taking him out to restaurants.

A volunteer is accused of kissing and patting the same teenager, giving him pornographic magazines and engaging in sexual conduct with another youth.

Tuesday, a therapist and a former resident came to the agency’s defense.

A 17-year-old who lived at one of the agency’s facilities for about a year said the accusations by two former clients against two members of the staff are “absolutely, 100% false.” Referring to the claims, he said, “The accusations were made out of vindictiveness.”

Similarly, Tobias Maxwell, a family child therapist who has worked for the agency for more than a year, described the allegations as “a witch hunt of sorts.”

In a letter to the social services department, Maxwell wrote that he treated one of the accusers: “There was never any hint or suggestion of an inappropriate relationship between him and [a staff person] during my tenure at GLASS.

“As a licensed therapist in two of the GLASS group homes,” he continued in the letter, “I always made sure that we as a team kept a vigilant eye on new staff, volunteers and any approved visitors in our homes, to ensure the safest of environments for our kids. If anything, GLASS always erred on the side of caution regarding this, making it a great place for our kids.”

DeCrescenzo , for her part, said it is common for troubled teenagers to invent allegations.

“This is what sexually abused, sexualized youngsters do; this is routine,” said DeCrescenzo.

As part of the accusation, DeCrescenzo, financial officer Bernard La Fianza Jr., and staffer Henderson Slaughter are barred from being employed by or entering any facilities licensed by the social services department, including those operated by the agency.

But DeCrescenzo vowed to stay on as the agency’s executive director. “I intend to vigorously defend this agency against these false accusations.”

After a copy of the accusation was sent to Los Angeles County social service agencies, the county removed 17 children it had placed with the agency and put them in other facilities.

No criminal charges have been filed in the case.

Lisa Hightower, senior staff attorney with the social services department, said the accusation was filed after a lengthy investigation by her department.

“We had information from enough sources with enough corroboration” to justify a license revocation, she said.

Times staff writers Eric Malnic and Peter Hong contributed to this story.