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Four-year term given in scandal at shelter Desiree Seiver gets prison time for allowing drug use and having sex with clients at the youth shelter in Talent By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune The 22-year-old woman at the center of a Community Works youth shelter sex scandal was sentenced to more than four years in prison and another five on probation Wednesday, despite arguments that she is a victim herself. Desiree Joy Seiver bowed her head and wept as Jackson County Circuit Judge Mark Schiveley outlined her penalties, the strictest available to him. For allowing drug use and having sex with six clients at the Youth Diagnostic Shelter, including some as young as 15, the Central Point woman faces 50 months in prison, five years of probation and mandatory sex offender treatment, as well as mandatory alcohol, drug and mental health counseling. The most serious conviction was a felony charge of racketeering stemming from contentions she used the Talent site as a base to further her own sexual gratification. Schiveley rejected defense arguments and an investigator's recommendation that Seiver be mandated to treatment only. Michelle Smith, a Josephine County probation officer who conducted a pre-sentence investigation, lobbied for rehabilitation, not prison time, because Seiver suffers from a diagnosed personality disorder, because she was sexually abused herself and because Community Works administrators failed to adequately supervise her. "If she would have had someone at the shelter overseeing her actions, none of this would have happened at all," Smith said. "Community Works didn't follow up, didn't recognize the warning flags and did nothing to pull her out of that situation," contended Seiver's court-appointed attorney, Gary Berlant. But Schiveley upheld Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston's argument that Seiver alone was responsible for her actions, which further harmed already vulnerable young people and violated the public trust. Seiver expressed remorse for her actions. "I was just trying to help people," she said. In levying the sentences, Schiveley noted that Seiver's actions led to closure of the shelter, damaging the reputation of one of the area's largest social service agencies and crippling capacity to care for at-risk youth. "That program, a major important program in this county, has been tarnished by Ms. Seiver's actions," said Schiveley, who is the region's juvenile court judge. Ed Roussell, spokesman for Community Works, agreed with Schiveley's assessment. "Any time an organization has to deal with negative publicity, that's an issue," he said. "I would echo his comments around the community being deprived of the resource for kids. That's why we're working diligently with the county to reopen it." Jackson County recently assumed shelter operation after an investigation revealed no confidence in Community Works' ability to continue. Roussell refused to comment on the agency's supervision of Seiver or its culpability in her crimes, saying such comments could be fodder for pending civil lawsuits. Seiver was convicted on felony charges of racketeering and third-degree rape and misdemeanor charges of attempted third-degree rape, contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor and two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor. Seiver's parents expressed dismay at the lengthy sentence. "She has no idea what racketeering is," Valerie Seiver said, in tears as she left the courtroom. Jay Seiver, Desiree's father, said he was "flabbergasted" at the prison time. Family members believed that Seiver's agreement to testify against co-defendant Wayne Randall Gatrel and her cooperation with authorities would lead to a lesser penalty, he said. "But we don't think it was unfair," Jay Seiver said outside the courtroom. "What she done was real wrong." Gatrel, 43, of Medford, is awaiting trial in March on 14 charges of abuse at the shelter, including a dozen sex crimes. Better supervision would have helped her daughter - and the vulnerable teens she was assigned to protect, Valerie Seiver said. "The bright spot in this is that the shelter was uncovered. It will run right now and no kids will have to go through this again." 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.