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Two more teens sue youth shelter Victims seek financial compensation for damages caused by former Community Works employees By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune Two more teenage victims will seek financial compensation for damages caused by former Community Works youth shelter workers convicted of sex crimes, a Medford lawyer confirmed Tuesday. The family of a girl who was 16 when she was sexually abused at the Youth Diagnostic Shelter in Talent has notified local, county and state agencies she intends to sue for acts committed by former supervisor Wayne Randall Gatrel, Jackson County records show. The family of another abused teen also plans to seek civil damages or a negotiated settlement, lawyer Kelly Andersen said Tuesday. That client has not yet filed a legal notice of intent to sue. Andersen would not divulge the gender or age of the teenager, whose family requested complete privacy. The move means five of eight victims - five boys and three girls - will seek compensation for the acts of Desiree Joy Seiver and Gatrel, two former shelter supervisors convicted of sexually abusing young people in their care between October 2000 and March 2001. Seiver, 23, of Central Point, is serving more than four years in a state prison for allowing drug use and having sex with six clients, including boys as young as 15, at the Talent shelter. Gatrel, 43, of Medford, was convicted last month of sex abuse and racketeering charges at the shelter, including sex acts involving girls as young as 16. Gatrel faces a minimum of five years and 10 months and a maximum of 48 years in prison. He is awaiting sentencing. Andersen has said he has been negotiating with the insurance company for Community Works, the Medford agency that ran the shelter, since Seiver's November conviction. He will not say how much money his clients are seeking or whether he believes a settlement is more likely than a civil lawsuit. In addition to Community Works, potential lawsuits also name Jackson County, the city of Medford, the Oregon Youth Authority and the Oregon Department of Administrative Services. The sex abuse allegations forced closure of the youth shelter, which has since been reopened under the operation of Jackson County. Arnie Green, executive director of Community Works, has said in the past that he knows of no negotiations being conducted with the agency's insurance representatives. He could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.