Therapist at Children's Hospital,San Diego, accused of child molestation, porn

San Diego Union Tribune ^ | March 10, 2006 | Joe Hughes

[KylaStarr]

The victims were among the most vulnerable.

Their plight brought one hospital official to tears and drew flashes of anger from another yesterday as they described a horrifying case of child molestation and pornography at Children's Convalescent Hospital.

A 54-year-old respiratory therapist has been arrested on 40 counts of possession, manufacture and distribution of child pornography and two counts of lewd and lascivious acts on two children under 14. In all, the charges involve nine children.

A cell phone allegedly was used to take photographs of bedridden children at the 59-bed convalescent center, which is part of the Children's Hospital complex in Kearny Mesa. Some of those images were distributed on the Internet.

Wayne Albert Bleyle, a 26-year employee of the hospital, was taken into custody by San Diego police detectives Wednesday outside Viejas Casino in Alpine. He was booked into the County Jail.

During a news conference yesterday at the hospital, Pamela Dixon, director of the convalescent facility, started crying as she described the condition of some of the children.

“Some are awake and not aware of their surroundings; others are comatose,” Dixon said, her voice breaking as others at the news conference tried to comfort her. “They need hands-on care; they can't care for themselves. Many have been with us for years.”

Bail for Bleyle, a Santee resident, was set at $3 million. He was scheduled to be arraigned today.

[freepatriot32]

i wonder what his sentence will be if hes found guilty probation or 60 days in jail? Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here

[Rushmore Rocks]

Thanks for the follow up.

I would think that "Supervisors' checks on caregivers........will be frequent, random and unannounced." should be standard operating procedure in such facilities.

I hope a strong judge hears this case.

[Palladin]

Just when you think human beings cannot get more depraved...

This man deserves a long slow torture death.

[Palladin]

Others on the staff had to be complicit in this. Comatose children need their diapers cahnged several times a day. How could the aides not notice sexual penetration, blood, bruising, etc.?

This freak was not working alone on his porn collection.

[KylaStarr]

>>Comatose children need their diapers cahnged several times a day. How could the aides not notice sexual penetration, blood, bruising, etc.? <<

I've been wondering the same thing myself. SOMEONE had to notice something.. and if not.. then fire the whole dang staff because someone should have!

[WestCoastGal]

There are so many SICK people in this world. It's just a shame that innocent children have to pay the price. I saw on the news yesterday that they arrested something like 15 people for live video sex with children as young as 18 months old on the Internet. These men should be castrated or worse.

[KylaStarr]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060314-1324-bn14porn2.html

Here's another one here in San Diego. I wonder if they made this new bust from info they got off of the computer of the guy in Santee. If so, hopefully we'll hear of more of these arrests!

High school PE teacher charged with possessing porn

1:24 p.m. March 14, 2006

SNIP:
SAN DIEGO – A South Bay physical education teacher is facing federal charges of possessing child pornography obtained from the Internet.
Michael John Smerdon, 41, was arrested Monday by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), authorities announced Tuesday. He appeared Tuesday in San Diego's federal court.

Smerdon, who lives in El Cajon, teaches at Hilltop High School and Castle Park Middle School in Chula Vista. Before that, he was head football coach at Clairemont High School in San Diego in 2003 and 2004.

The investigation that led to his arrest began in Fresno, said ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack.

Acting on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, ICE cybercrime specialists tapped into Smerdon's e-mail account, Mack said. There, they found images and videos depicting children being sexually abused.

She said the material included images of children being subjected to bondage and acts of sadomasochism.

Smerdon didn't just receive Internet child porn, but was distributing it as well, said Serge Duarte, acting head of ICE in San Diego. So far, however, agents haven't found any evidence that Smerdon was producing pornography himself, nor is there any evidence that students were involved, Duarte said.

[KylaStarr]

I saw that! There's a thread on here about that case. Unfreakingbelievable!!!! Public executions. that's all.

[Rushmore Rocks]

I saw that same report. This is so twisted that I cannot even wrap my mind around it...........and I'm very glad that I can't.

Poor, poor innocents.