D.A. Won’t Seek Charges Against Rehab Center

The Orange County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday that it will not pursue charges against a rehabilitation center accused of bilking criminal defendants.

The Center for Creative Alternatives, which offered drug, alcohol and anger management programs, was singled out by a Probation Department audit earlier this year for extending treatments without court approval 11 times in the last three years.

The Board of Supervisors and the Probation Department have since canceled the county’s contract with the center, which had three offices in Orange County, Deputy Dist. Atty. Ebrahim Baytieh said.

“After conducting our investigation, we concluded there was not sufficient evidence for criminal charges,” Baytieh said.

The Probation Department audit found that seven of Orange County’s 23 groups offering treatment programs for domestic-violence offenders illegally extended the length of their programs beyond the court-approved dates.

The results of the audit spurred probation officials to beef up the department’s monitoring of such programs. The department promised to add two deputy officers to the one-person unit now overseeing the groups.