Judge Issues Split Ruling in Foster Home Molestation

In a decision that could dampen the hopes of a group of teenagers who say they were raped or molested in San Bernardino County foster homes, a judge ruled Thursday that the corporate owner of the homes cannot be held liable for the actions of its employees.

But in the same breath, San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Bob N. Krug ruled that Victor Treatment Centers, the owner of the homes and one of the largest shelter operators in California’s child welfare system, can be held liable for punitive damages when one of the teenagers’ civil trials ends next week.

The mixed decision came in a critical test for the teenagers’ cases against their alleged attackers and Chico, Calif.-based Victor Treatment Centers.

At first blush, the rulings seemed contradictory. Instead, they were merely a reflection of American judges’ long and tortured history of trying to figure out when corporations and organizations--from universities to the Boy Scouts of America--can be held responsible for misdeeds by their employees.

At a court hearing Thursday afternoon, Krug said that he had read a series of court cases confronting that issue--and that at times it seemed his research hadn’t helped a bit. The cases illustrated the fine legal line the judge had been forced to walk.

In one case he read about, the city of Los Angeles was found liable when a police officer raped a woman whom he had pulled over for a sobriety test. The city was held responsible because the officer’s job created the opportunity for the crime.

But in another case, Krug said, the California Supreme Court found that a hospital could not be held liable when an ultrasound technician molested a pregnant woman. In that case, the man’s conduct was considered beyond the scope of his duties.

Acknowledging that he was “bothered” by the issue and by the San Bernardino County case, Krug said: “I may be wrong. . . . [But,] right or wrong, that is the ruling of this court.”

At least nine mentally troubled teenagers have reported to police or attorneys that they have been sexually abused in the last two years while living in Victor shelters--most of them by counselors hired as their guardians and custodians. Two of the teens have since attempted suicide, and several have lapsed in their therapy, their attorneys say.

All of the alleged attacks took place at so-called Level 14 facilities--reserved for the most disturbed children in California’s child welfare system, and considered a last resort before housing them in mental hospitals.

Earlier this month, state officials moved to shut down one group home, known as Chestnut House, where three teenage girls said they had been raped by counselors.

The action provoked fierce criticism from children’s advocates because the state declined to take any action at three other homes, also run by Victor Treatment Centers, where teens have complained of sexual assaults.

At one, known as Bronson House, an 11-year-old boy said he was raped by a counselor in the summer of 1999. State officials said they did not have enough evidence to take action at that shelter--although the counselor, Steve Ayala, pleaded guilty to sodomy in the case a year ago and received a six-year prison term.

Santa Ana attorney Jack H. Anthony has brought civil lawsuits on behalf of five of the teenagers. The first civil case, involving the boy who was raped by Ayala, has been in trial for nearly a month and is expected to end Monday.

The final stages of that case were the setting for Krug’s rulings Thursday. At issue were the instructions a 12-member jury will receive while deliberating the case: whether the jury could hold Victor responsible for Ayala’s actions, and whether the jury could bring punitive damages.

Anthony argued Thursday that Victor “definitely aided Mr. Ayala in the acts he performed” and said a Victor manager knew that Ayala, a former video store clerk with no training in counseling or psychology, was not fit for his job.

“The evidence that’s been presented is clear and convincing,” Anthony said.

Victor attorney Timothy J. Stafford has argued repeatedly during the trial that Ayala kept his actions secret from Victor Treatment Centers. Therefore, he has said, Victor cannot be held responsible for those acts.

“There has been no testimony that Mr. Ayala was in the scope of his employment while engaged in these criminal acts,” Stafford said Thursday.

The judge agreed, to a degree, with both sides.

In the first stage of the deliberations, when Anthony plans to ask the jury for $2.5 million to cover the boy’s psychological and medical needs, the judge ruled that Victor is not responsible for Ayala’s acts.

But in the second stage of deliberations, Krug said Victor can be forced to pay punitive damages. Krug pointed out, for example, that there is evidence the boy was bleeding after the attacks but was not taken to a doctor. And, the judge said, Victor managers knew that Ayala and the boy had a close relationship but did not put an end to it.