REPORT ASSAILS FACILITY'S LEADERS; ABUSES OUTLINED AT YOUTH AUTHORITY.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Daily News Staff Writer

A scathing new report from the state inspector general accuses administrators at the California Youth Authority detention center in Camarillo of allowing sexual misconduct, favoritism, nepotism and intimidation to run unchecked for the past seven years.

In addition to blaming administrators for longstanding problems at the correctional facility, the report also includes recommendations for improving policy review and training.

Inspector General Lloyd Wood did not return phone calls. But a spokeswoman for the state Youth and Adult Correctional Agency said the recommendations were primarily organizational.

``The inspector general looked at this (report) as a management tool and attempted to make suggestions as to what the inspector general believed would improve operations at the facility,'' said Lisa Beutler, assistant secretary for the agency.

Wood's report, issued Wednesday, resulted in the immediate suspensions of center Superintendent Mary L. Herrera, Assistant Superintendent Charles S. Kubasek and Chief of Security Maj. James J. McDuffy.

Gregory Lowe, the assistant superintendent at El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility, took over Thursday as the top administrator at the Camarillo facility.

The 37-year-old detention center - one of 11 youth facilities in the state - employs more than 400 employees and incarcerates 729 male and female wards, ages 13 to 25.

In a five-page summary letter, Wood said he found that managers at the Camarillo facility treated and punished male and female employees differently and also minimized cases of sexual misconduct between staff and wards.

``The study also reveals that sexual misconduct among staff and wards has been going on for a long time,'' Wood's letter said. ``That is not to say that this type of behavior is condoned by staff, nor are we saying that a majority of staff engage in this type of behavior.

``What we found strikingly noticeable is that the outrage this misconduct would create among the general public is not found among staff,'' he said. ``The perception is that administration uses selective enforcement in dealing with misconduct.''

Wood also highlighted several questionable incidents, including one in which a youth counselor became pregnant by a paroled ward, resigned and was later rehired. She ultimately was fired after ``various incidents of similar inappropriate behavior,'' the report said.

In another situation, a youth counselor abruptly retired in 1997 and was later discovered to have left his wife and family to move to San Diego with a recently paroled ward from the Camarillo facility, the report said.

The report also alleges that former Superintendent Manuel A. Carbajal - who abruptly resigned last November after being interviewed by the Inspector General's Office - engaged in nepotism and preferential treatment. ``Female employees only advanced their career by providing favors, some sexual, to management,'' the report said.