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Fired shelter workers charged Accused of sexually abusing 8 children By JONEL ALECCIA TALENT - Two former Community Works youth shelter supervisors were jailed Monday on charges that they sexually displayed and abused eight young people sent to the program for help. After a three-month investigation, Oregon State Police arrested Desiree Joy Seiver, 22, 625 Gibbon Road, Central Point, and Wayne Randall Gatrel, 43, 3555 S. Pacific Ave., No. 129, Medford. Seiver faces 18 charges, including allegations that she had sexual intercourse and committed sodomy with children under age 16. She is also charged with providing methamphetamine to the youth, using them in sexually explicit displays, endangering their welfare, contributing to their sexual delinquency and coercion. Gatrel faces 14 charges, including allegations that he sexually abused victims who did not consent or could not consent because they were under age 18. Gatrel is also charged with using children in displays of sexually explicit conduct, contributing to their sexual delinquency and harassment. "The allegation is they permitted four kids at the shelter to engage in sexual activity for another person to observe," Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston said Monday. Seiver and Gatrel also were charged with racketeering because they allegedly used the Youth Diagnostic Shelter at 5605 S. Pacific Highway to conduct the sexual acts, Huddleston said. They were lodged at Jackson County's jail on bail of $300,000 each. The pair are scheduled for indictment by the Jackson County grand jury today. The range of charges and the number of alleged victims became apparent as the investigation unfolded, said OSP Sgt. Kurt Barthel. The shelter was abruptly closed in April after two alleged victims threatened to sue local agencies in connection with the alleged abuse. County and state officials investigated the complaints and immediately evacuated the shelter, sending nine residents to sites throughout the state. Tracking down the alleged victims to obtain statements prolonged the investigation, said Barthel, who anticipated no further charges. "I feel confident that this is the closure of this case," he said. "I don't think there's any more." Contacted in May, Gatrel and Seiver adamantly denied sexual involvement with the young clients. Gatrel said the alleged victims and their families were motivated by potential lawsuit settlements and called a 16-year-old female accuser "a drug-induced, pathological liar." Both supervisors had worked at the Talent site for about six months, working mostly weekend nights at the shelter that provided care for non-criminal youth ages 10 to 17. "They worked during the night and on weekends and they apparently had very little supervision from the Community Works staff," said Hank Collins, county health director, who contracts for three of the shelter's 16 beds. He noted that children were removed from the shelter promptly after state and county officials became aware of the alleged problems. Arnie Green, executive director of Community Works, declined to respond to specific charges because of pending lawsuits. "We are saddened by this turn of events," he said. "We are cooperating completely with the authorities as we have throughout this investigation." Doug Mares, interim branch manager for the local Services to Children and Families office, also declined to comment because of potential legal action. Seiver faces three counts of third-degree rape, two counts of third-degree sodomy, four counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, two counts of delivery of a controlled substance to a minor, two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, two counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, one count of third-degree attempted rape, one count of coercion and one count of racketeering. Gatrel faces five counts of third-degree sexual abuse, four counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, two counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, one count of attempted contributing to the sexual delinquency of minor, one count of harassment and one count of racketeering. 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.