Agency’s Role in Teen Weddings to Be Reviewed

State and county officials Sunday called for a thorough review of the Orange County Social Services Agency’s controversial practice of helping some teenage girls under its protection marry adult men who had impregnated them.

Gov. Pete Wilson, who has launched an $8-million campaign to prosecute males in statutory rape and child abuse cases, said through a spokesman Sunday that his administration intends to “closely monitor” the agency’s actions.

“We don’t want to see marriages of convenience to be an out for prosecuting the law,” said Sean Walsh, the governor’s spokesman. “We should vigorously prosecute statutory rape laws and not back off our goal of ending this socially debilitating phenomenon that is occurring in our society.”

In the past two years, county social workers have helped at least 15 underage girls marry or continue living with their adult male sex partners, instead of treating the adolescents as victims of child abuse and statutory rape, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Times and detailed in articles Sunday.

In one case six weeks ago, a 13-year-old Anaheim girl was given court approval to marry her 20-year-old boyfriend. The marriage stirred debate within the agency, as well as among police and prosecutors.

The disclosure of the marriages has prompted widespread comment from politicians, religious leaders and social welfare officials.

“Teenage pregnancies, especially ones like these, should not exist,” said Orange County Supervisor Marian Bergeson. “This is not acceptable. I think we need more information on what the solutions should be. The board will be requesting information on how these decisions are made and whether or not they are appropriate.”

Lisa Kalustian, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Welfare, said Sunday that accommodating teenage marriages “is obviously something that we will want to take a look at.”

“A 13-year-old is not an adult. We are looking at a situation here where these girls are being put in a very bad position. Is somebody that age able to make adult decisions on lifetime partners and bringing another life into the world? And, that’s not even addressing the criminal aspects of this.”

Social workers argue that these cases are not simple and involve moral, religious and legal issues.

Larry M. Leaman, the director of the Orange County Social Services Agency, said his social workers are caught in an “impossible social dilemma” when they try and determine how to deal with teenagers who have consensual sex with and children by adult men.

When assessing whether a minor should be aided in marrying her adult partner, Leaman said, social workers consider a number of factors:

Consent from one or both of the minor’s parents, the minor’s desire to continue the relationship, the county’s concern over splitting up a couple who might become a functioning family, and the minor’s unwillingness to testify against her adult partner--if police and prosecutors could be persuaded to bring criminal charges.

If social workers believe marriage may be the best alternative for a minor, they can recommend to a Juvenile Court judge that the couple get married, that the girl’s dependency status with the county be terminated, or otherwise drop objections that would block a union from taking place.

The practice of helping teenage girls continue their relationships with adult men has divided social workers in the agency and sparked an internal investigation. Leaman said he is seeking to determine whether new guidelines or procedures should be established.

Because all but one of the 15 Orange County minors who have been allowed to marry or live with their adult sex partners were Latinas, some social workers and lawmakers have argued that the agency is being confronted with a “cultural issue.”

Others social workers challenge that contention, pointing out that the age of consent to marry in Mexico is 18, just as it is in California.