MEMO SPARKS INVESTIGATION NOTE ORDERS DESTRUCTION OF DOCUMENTS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

The Los Angeles County auditor-controller was asked Friday to investigate an internal memo, purportedly written by an administrator at MacLaren Children's Center, ordering a co-worker to destroy documents in an ongoing whistle-blower investigation.

MacLaren Administrative Services Section head Velda Moore denied writing the memo and said she also had received a faxed copy herself. Other officials backed her up.

``I didn't write the letter,'' Moore said. ``I don't know who wrote the letter. It's not my signature or my writing style.''

The letter is dated July 1, 2001, and is written on MacLaren letterhead to a worker in the culinary department. It says:

``Go through your entire office and destroy any documents that can hurt us in the whistle-blower investigation that Greg A. Lyons has filed against us. Look for any documents that have to do with sexual abuse between staff and children that Greg A. Lyons may have reported to you.''

Lyons, 38, of Los Angeles worked as a food services worker at MacLaren from March 2 until June 21, when he was terminated by Moore.

On Oct. 31, Lyons filed a $53 million claim against the county, saying he was terminated for reporting abuses at the shelter. By law, a claim must be filed before a lawsuit can be filed. The county has not acted on Lyons' claim.

Lyons said he obtained the document from an employee at MacLaren and faxed it out Friday to reporters and various county officials.

``For six months I've been trying to bring this to light,'' Lyons said. ``The county should come forward and say what they've found and should not try to cover this up.''

Auditor-Controller Tyler McCauley said his office will work to determine the validity of the memo.

``Hopefully, after interviewing a number of people, we'll determine if the letter is authentic,'' said McCauley, who was asked to investigate the memo by Supervisor Michael Antonovich.

``The supervisor likes to investigate all allegations of misconduct,'' said Raine Ritchey, who handles children's issues for Antonovich.

Bryce Yokomizo, MacLaren interim director, said he believes the memo is fake because it was dated July 1, a Sunday. He also noted that the document is written on stationery used for formal correspondence, with the words ``inter office memo'' typed in.

``I'm looking at this now, and this is not anything that Velda wrote,'' Yokomizo said. ``The one thing that really sticks out is that whoever wrote it didn't do a good job on the date. We usually don't do memos on Sundays. This is not a genuine memo.''

Yokomizo also said Moore did not order anyone to shred documents.

``She absolutely denies that, and the letter is not a genuine letter,'' Yokomizo said. ``She did not write the memo, and it has no credibility whatsoever.''

Last year, Antonovich asked for an internal county investigation into Lyons' allegations. County officials said Friday the investigation is continuing.

The allegations included claims Lyons saw an employee having sex with children, staffers slamming children into walls and the ground, and drug use among both staff and children. Lyons said he reported the incidents to his supervisors but that nothing was done.

Lyons is appealing his termination to the Civil Service Commission. A hearing is scheduled for March 14.