CYA Budget Frozen Over Ventura Probe

State legislators decided Monday to temporarily freeze a portion of the California Youth Authority’s budget until an investigation of alleged sexual assaults at the agency’s Ventura facility is complete.

Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) requested that a legislative committee not approve the CYA’s $18-million administrative budget because concerns about operations at the facility have been ignored.

“We get half-truths and information that tells us it was not a thorough investigation,” Wright said.

Monday’s hearing in Sacramento is the latest chapter of an inquiry into the Ventura School, the only coed juvenile correctional facility statewide for offenders 13 to 25 years old, most of whom have committed violent crimes.

In November, state legislators accused Ventura School administrators of shoddy investigative methods and of trying to cover up an alleged rape of a female ward by a male officer.

Wright said there have been several other accounts of alleged sexual assaults between officers and wards and between wards since the Nov. 24 hearing in Camarillo.

At a special legislative hearing in Sacramento in October, members of the Select Senate Committee on Prison Management accused CYA officials of lax supervision that allowed for other rapes and even a ward’s death.

Wright said the CYA administrative budget has been frozen at least until mid-May, when it will be decided whether CYA investigations should occur through an independent agency.

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old CYA inmate remained at large Monday evening after fleeing while on a work crew at the former Camarillo State Hospital shortly after noon.

Daniel Marquez was sent to the Ventura School earlier this month after being convicted of robbery in San Diego County. He was scheduled for release next April and is not considered dangerous.

All previous escapees have been returned to custody.