CYA SEES CONCLUSION OF PROBE; VENTURA COUNTY SITE REVIEWED FOR 2 YEARS.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Daily News Staff Writer

Sixteen employees are gone from the troubled CYA facility and prosecutors are reviewing 14 cases of potential criminal wrongdoing, as officials tie up the loose ends of a two-year investigation at the state's only co-ed institution.

And Greg Zermeno, newly appointed director of the California Youth Authority, plans to review 18 additional cases next week that could be turned over to the District Attorney's Office for prosecution.

``He (Zermeno) wants to get it done quickly,'' said J.P. Tremblay, CYA assistant director. ``He wants to get this whole chapter of what has been going on in Ventura behind us so the people down there, the staff, the 98 percent he refers to as `doing a fine job,' be able to move beyond this and focus on doing the job they've been asked to do.''

CYA internal affairs investigators looked into 71 allegations over the past two years at the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility, Tremblay said. He declined to state the nature of the cases, which involve a dozen employees, that were eventually forwarded to the district attorney.

Additionally, 16 employees who were under investigation have ``retired, resigned or action was taken against them,'' Tremblay said.

Prosecutors so far have filed in only one case: Bradley Robbins Gardner, who was fired last year as a vocational education instructor, is facing a trial on charges of having unlawful sexual contact with two female wards under 18 years old. The institution houses male and female wards, ages 13-15.

Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Dee Corona said five of the 14 cases forwarded to her unit, which focuses on sex crimes, are still under review but a resolution ``should be occurring shortly.''

Tremblay said there is no time frame for Zermeno to make a decision about the remaining 18 cases.

The independent state inspector general released a scathing report in February that found abuses at the facility including sexual improprieties, intimidation, harassment and nepotism. The top administration at the facility has since been replaced and ongoing reforms are occurring.