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Legal tussle: confidentiality or evidence? Alleged victims' histories sought in shelter sex cases By JONEL ALECCIA TALENT - A week before trial, lawyers for two former youth shelter workers charged with sex crimes are seeking agency records they believe may cast doubts on the credibility of the alleged victims. "I don't care if they're druggies or abused alcohol, but I would certainly be curious about previous allegations that turned out to be unfounded or any real diagnosis of schizophrenia," said Larry Parker, who represents former worker Wayne Randall Gatrel, 43, of Medford. But state child protection and county officials are blocking the moves, which they say would violate privacy rights of the 15- and 16-year-old accusers. "We have severe confidentiality issues here," said Jackson County counsel Mike Jewett. At hearings set today, Judge Ray White will decide whether to uphold subpoenas for two county officials and whether to release confidential mental health and drug treatment records of a 16-year-old girl. The legal wrangling is preparation for the trial set for Sept. 6 of Gatrel and Desiree Joy Seiver, 22, of Central Point, who together face nearly three dozen charges that they sexually displayed and abused eight young clients at the Youth Diagnostic Shelter in Talent. The most serious charges allege that the pair permitted two boys and two girls to engage in sexually explicit conduct while another person watched. Parker has subpoenaed Mark Orndoff and Carl Erickson, two county workers with access to juvenile and mental health records of the accusers. The records may offer vital insight into the youngsters' conditions and credibility, Parker said Thursday. "I don't want to put the children on trial, that's not what this is about, of course," Parker said. "But frankly, without this information, I can't adequately cross-examine them." The county has moved to quash the subpoenas of Orndoff, deputy director of health and human services, and Erickson, deputy director of juvenile services. The officials were part of a multiagency team that shut down the shelter in April after allegations surfaced. Gary Berlant, Seiver's court-appointed attorney, has spent more than a month seeking legal access to volumes of state Department of Human Services records for the alleged victims. Berlant indicated that the files may contain information favorable to Seiver's case. Most of the motions have been denied, but White is set to decide today whether to reconsider release of records for one girl. Indictments against Seiver allege that she had sexual intercourse and committed sodomy with several clients, provided drugs to clients and threatened to harm a boy who threatened to report child abuse. An indictment against Gatrel alleges improper sexual actions with three 16-year-old girls and that he harassed a 15-year-old boy who threatened to report abuse. Both Seiver and Gatrel are charged with racketeering because they used the site at 5605 S. Pacific Highway to allegedly conduct the crimes. Gatrel has said the charges were motivated by the prospect of lucrative civil lawsuits. Parker, his lawyer, reiterated his client's innocence. "He didn't do anything," Parker said. "He may have been guilty of poor judgment and poor job performance, but he didn't commit any criminal act." 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.