How Could You? Hall of Shame-Kenneth Ofigho case and Graham Bessermin UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From San  Francisco, California, “Edgewood Center for Children and Families, a long-standing San Francisco nonprofit serving vulnerable children and teens, is reeling in the wake of two incidents this year in which staff members allegedly sexually assaulted minors residing at the Sunset District facility.

Both of the alleged assaults, separate incidents involving two staff members no longer with Edgewood, were reported by the alleged victims, one of whom was 14 years old. The Chronicle could not obtain information on the age of the second alleged victim because details about that incident remain confidential.

The San Francisco district attorney’s office has charged one of the former staff members with five counts of committing lewd acts on a minor. The other was arrested in May and charged with possessing child pornography and communicating with a minor for sex, but has not been charged in connection with alleged incidents at Edgewood. One incident allegedly occurred in late 2018, but did not surface until this year. The second allegedly took place in April.

The alleged incidents were investigated and substantiated by the state Department of Social Services, which oversees facilities like Edgewood.

Founded as an orphanage, Edgewood today treats children suffering from an array of psychiatric and behavioral problems.

Last month, the Department of Social Services required that Edgewood submit to reforms, including training on how to report abuse and “educating clients on what grooming looks like” by a child predator. Grooming can involve any pattern of behavior where adults establish connections with children they have sexual interest in. The state also cited Edgewood for problems with its building and lack of supervision by a top administrator.

The state made clear that should more abuse allegations arise, Edgewood could lose its license. The nonprofit has operated for 168 years and served about 11,000 children and families in 2018, mostly through outpatient programs.

“Our first priority is the health and safety of the children,” said Lynn Dolce, Edgewood’s CEO, adding that all employees undergo thorough background and reference checks before being hired.

The first report of abuse came in April. The alleged victim reported the incident to an Edgewood employee, who alerted state officials, as required by state regulations.

Kenneth Ofigho surrendered to San Francisco police after allegations that he improperly touched a girl, 14, while employed at the Edgewood Center for Children and Families.

The Edgewood Center for Children and Families, a long-standing San Francisco nonprofit serving vulnerable children and teens, is reeling in the wake of two incidents this year in which staff members allegedly sexually assaulted minors residing at the Sunset District facility.

Both of the alleged assaults, separate incidents involving two staff members no longer with Edgewood, were reported by the alleged victims, one of whom was 14 years old. The Chronicle could not obtain information on the age of the second alleged victim because details about that incident remain confidential.

The San Francisco district attorney’s office has charged one of the former staff members with five counts of committing lewd acts on a minor. The other was arrested in May and charged with possessing child pornography and communicating with a minor for sex, but has not been charged in connection with alleged incidents at Edgewood. One incident allegedly occurred in late 2018, but did not surface until this year. The second allegedly took place in April.

Founded as an orphanage, Edgewood today treats children suffering from an array of psychiatric and behavioral problems.

Last month, the Department of Social Services required that Edgewood submit to reforms, including training on how to report abuse and “educating clients on what grooming looks like” by a child predator. Grooming can involve any pattern of behavior where adults establish connections with children they have sexual interest in. The state also cited Edgewood for problems with its building and lack of supervision by a top administrator.

The state made clear that should more abuse allegations arise, Edgewood could lose its license. The nonprofit has operated for 168 years and served about 11,000 children and families in 2018, mostly through outpatient programs.

“Our first priority is the health and safety of the children,” said Lynn Dolce, Edgewood’s CEO, adding that all employees undergo thorough background and reference checks before being hired.

The first report of abuse came in April. The alleged victim reported the incident to an Edgewood employee, who alerted state officials, as required by state regulations.

A report from a social services investigator found that an Edgewood employee “went into (a resident’s) bedroom in the middle of the night and inappropriately touched (the resident’s) breast and buttocks.” The state investigator also obtained security camera footage of the hallway outside the bedroom and conducted interviews that supported the allegation.

An employee, Kenneth Ofigho of Bay Point, was immediately put on leave and later fired, Dolce said, adding that Edgewood helped the alleged victim’s family file a police report. Police began an investigation, and Ofigho surrendered to authorities on Sept. 4. The victim was a 14-year-old girl, police said.

Ofigho has pleaded not guilty to five counts of lewd acts on a minor. Prosecutors asked the court to keep him in custody without bail, but his attorney persuaded the court to release him with an ankle monitor. A pretrial conference is scheduled for late November.

Prosecutors say in court records that Ofigho entered the girl’s room multiple times on the night of April 23. He first beamed the light from his cell phone over the girl’s face to see whether she would react, and she pretended to be asleep, prosecutors say. Then, prosecutors say, he slipped his hands under the blankets to grope her breasts over her clothing. He returned several minutes later, they said, and slipped his hands beneath the blankets and “poked her buttocks over the clothing.” Ofigho returned a third time, poking the child’s buttocks “over the clothing,” prosecutors say.

“Mr. Ofigho’s life has been devastated as a result of these false allegations,” said Deputy Public Defender Sylvia Nguyen, who is representing him. “He is a man with no prior criminal record. He has always maintained his innocence, and he has every intention of seeing this case through to clear his name.”

Adam Weintraub, a spokesman for the Department of Social Services, said Ofigho was accused by another Edgewood client of inappropriate touching in October 2018. But Edgewood’s internal investigation at the time could not substantiate that allegation, Weintraub said.

On May 29, Graham Bessermin, then a night facility manager at Edgewood, was arrested by the Morgan Hill Police Department for possession of child pornography and communicating with a minor for sex.

At the time, Bessermin, who lived in San Jose, had been working for Edgewood for 2½ years, Dolce said. He was also a youth baseball umpire “for many years” through the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League and worked with teenagers at a drug and alcohol treatment center in Scotts Valley, according to the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office.

Morgan Hill police notified Edgewood of the arrest, and Dolce said Bessermin was immediately placed on leave and later terminated. Edgewood immediately set to work notifying clients, their families and officials at organizations that it works with in San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

“What was most important for me was to get to the families and give them the information on how to contact the (Morgan Hill) detective, if in fact more children needed to come forward,” Dolce said.

City agencies working with Edgewood began their own investigation after Bessermin’s arrest into whether any children at the facility had been harmed. Investigators with the city’s Human Services Agency interviewed residents who had been at Edgewood during Bessermin’s tenure there. One youth reported being harmed by Besserman at Edgewood in late 2018. That allegation was immediately forwarded to the state’s Department of Social Services.

Weintraub, the department’s spokesman, said Bessermin is accused of engaging in “repeated incidents of inappropriate touching” related to the same victim. Details about the alleged victim’s sex and age, as well as the precise dates of the alleged abuse, remain confidential to protect the victim’s privacy.

Bessermin has not been criminally charged in San Francisco, and a Police Department spokesman said he could not comment about whether Bessermin was the subject of an investigation.

Bessermin has been held on $300,000 bail in Santa Clara County since his arrest on the child pornography and child solicitation charges. He pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to appear in court for a settlement conference in late November. He is represented by a Santa Clara County public defender, court records show.

San Francisco’s Public Health Department and Human Services Agency, which have long relied on Edgewood for help in caring for the city’s most troubled children and families, stopped referring children to three of the organization’s programs after the state released the results of its investigation into the alleged incidents in mid-August. The city ordinarily refers hundreds of children each year to Edgewood for a variety of behavioral health services and programs.

In a joint statement, health director Dr. Grant Colfax and Trent Rhorer, executive director of the Human Services Agency, said, “Our prime interest in this matter is the safety and well-being of San Francisco’s youth. We hold providers in our network of care to the highest standards and took immediate action upon hearing the news of these alarming allegations.”

The city has also asked Edgewood to create and execute a plan to ensure safety before it resumes its referrals.

Edgewood, Dolce said, “immediately” doubled the number of staffers overseeing the facility’s residents at night and instituted a “buddy system” policy for bed checks to ensure no one was entering a client’s room alone. Dolce also convened several forums for staff so employees could discuss and process the abuse allegations.

“How do you create an environment that is safe, reliable and compassionate? You do that by talking and connecting with people, especially when there’s trauma,” Dolce said.

About 30 children have been redirected to other crisis services since the city stopped making referrals to three Edgewood programs.

“We were able to place them at a combination of alternative settings that include an emergency foster home, a psychiatric hospital and a neighboring county crisis stabilization facility,” said city health department spokeswoman Rachael Kagan. “In addition, some children stabilized and were able to return home where we continue to provide support.””

Sex abuse allegations surface at SF facility for troubled children

[San Francisco Chronicle 11/18/19 by Dominic Fracassa]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: Thanks to Tim Kingston for this update.All Charges have been dropped for Kenneth Ofigho but Graham Bessermin’s charges have NOT been dropped

“This morning, all charges were dismissed against Kenneth Ofigho, 31, a former employee of Edgewood Center, who has consistently maintained his innocence after being wrongly accused of inappropriately touching a minor in April 2019.

The charges were dismissed after a lengthy review of all the evidence, including the lack of any DNA evidence, and a witness who was present and did not corroborate the allegations. The court also diligently reviewed over 700 pages of records from Edgewood Center, which describes itself as a facility that helps individuals and their loved ones who struggle with mental illness and behavioral health issues. Ultimately, Assistant District Attorney Lalah Morris dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence to support the burden of proof.

Deputy Public Defender Sylvia Nguyen said, “Mr. Ofigho has been living a nightmare for almost a year and, unfortunately, he will suffer the professional ramifications of these false allegations for years to come despite his innocence.”

Mr. Ofigho had absolutely no contact with the criminal legal system prior to these allegations. Numerous current and former co-workers, along with family and friends, submitted letters of support and offered to testify to his good character.

Ms. Nguyen added, “The presumption of innocence failed Mr. Ofigho from the start. Since these accusations were made, he was taken to jail, later placed on house arrest, lost his job, and was publicly humiliated by having his name and picture circulated in the news media. Thanks to our team’s relentless investigation and persistence in seeking the truth, he has been vindicated and is finally free to move forward with his life.””

All Charges Dismissed Against Edgewood Employee

[San Francisco Public Defender 03/05/2020]