Navy, FBI Investigate Sex Charge at Point Mugu Day-Care Center

Navy investigators and the FBI have launched a joint probe into an allegation that a preschool child was sexually molested by a day-care worker at Point Mugu’s Child Development Center, a base spokesman said Friday.

Point Mugu officials closed the Navy base’s day care facility on Friday and said they will keep it closed until Tuesday to allow investigators and counselors a chance to talk with the children, parents and day-care employees.

Authorities have made no arrests and filed no charges in the case. But the Navy has brought in a special eight-member Child Abuse Response Team from San Diego to counsel parents and family members and assist with the investigation, which involves a child described as 3 to 4 years old.

“We consider it a serious allegation,” said Point Mugu spokesman Alan Alpers. “The person facing the allegation is on paid leave.”

Navy officials broke the news to the parents in an emotional four-hour meeting Thursday night.

“Once they dropped the bomb on the families, it was absolute chaos,” said one of those in attendance. “There was a lot of outrage and a lot of anger. One of the women started crying.”

The allegation of sexual abuse at the Child Development Center coincided with another crisis at the facility: a morale problem triggered by layoff notices that were issued Tuesday to 11 of the center’s 24 child-care workers.

Workers’ low morale contributed to the base commander’s decision to temporarily shut the facility, Alpers said. The closure gives managers an opportunity to meet individually with all the employees.

The layoffs were part of a service-wide reduction required by cuts in the U.S. defense budget, officials said. A total of 108 Navy employees at Point Mugu are expected to lose their jobs in July.

The Child Development Center, which has operated on base for more than 20 years, has been taking care of 87 children from 6 weeks to 5 years old. The center is set up primarily for the children of uniformed military officials, but the children of civilian workers can use the center if space is available.

The parents have been greatly concerned about losing their steady day-care providers and their children’s reactions to the loss, Alpers said. Those concerns and the week-old sexual abuse investigation prompted the base commander, Capt. Stephen D. Beal, to hold Thursday night’s meeting with families.

Beal led the meeting with Capt. Rebecca Nolte, who is in charge of child advocacy, and members of the Child Abuse Response Team. The meeting was attended by about 70 parents and family members, as well as Navy and FBI investigators and a representative of the U.S. attorney’s office.

*

Beal and Nolte have declined comment, as have agents in charge of the local FBI office and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Most family members who attended the meeting were not prepared for the news of the allegations, said one man who attended the meeting but requested anonymity. “They walked in cold and they got hit upside the head with a two-by-four. They were dazed.”

Alpers acknowledges that the meeting was extremely emotional, parents reacting with anger, shock and tears.

“There were several women who broke down crying,” Alpers said. “We had counselors there to meet with them one on one.”

Navy officials and counselors urged family members to remain calm for the sake of their children and for the integrity of the investigation.

“We tried to convey to them that we know they are upset and they have a right to be angry,” Alpers said. “And their feelings are valid. At the same time, we have an investigation to conduct and they can help us by remaining calm and approach their children in such a way so they do not get upset or feel they did something wrong.”

The allegation first arose on the evening of March 21. Navy investigators immediately began their investigation. By Friday, they notified other naval agencies. The FBI was brought in late this week.

“We anticipate an extensive investigation,” Alpers said. “We have brought in specialists to find out if we have a case.”

Investigators have begun to interview or examine as many as three dozen of the children who attend the day-care center, sources said. Navy officials are also reviewing the center’s policies and procedures.

One such policy is that at least two day-care providers are required to remain in a room with children at all times.

*

Alpers said the center is state certified and follows state rules such as requiring a 10-year background check for all of its employees. He said the suspended day-care worker was subjected to a full background check before being hired.

Navy officials recently installed video cameras at the center--an increasingly common practice at day-care facilities--as an extra level of protection for the children and the workers.

But the cameras are not yet operational, Alpers said, pending checks to make sure they meet standards for coverage of entire rooms and final approval from an array of officials.