SHAKE-UP HITS INMATE SITE.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro and Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writers

The top three administrators at Ventura Youth Correctional Facility were placed on paid administrative leave Wednesday after a series of problems at the site, officials said.

The action comes as state investigators released a report looking into seven years of alleged wrongdoing at the Camarillo facility for young offenders, where a teacher was arrested last month on suspicion of having sexual relations with an inmate.

California Youth Authority director Francisco Alarcon arrived in Ventura on Wednesday morning to remove Superintendent Mary L. Herrera, Assistant Superintendent Charles S. Kubasek and Chief of Security Maj. James J. McDuffy, according to the office of Youth and Adult Correctional Agency Secretary Robert Presley.

``Based on the gravity of the information we felt it was important,'' said Lisa Beutler, correctional agency assistant secretary for programs.

``These were the three individuals that had the most direct responsibility,'' Beutler said. ``The finding that perhaps best described the report was that this was a systemic problem and not an isolated event.''

State Sen. Cathie Wright, R-Simi Valley, a critic of the Camarillo facility administration who called for the investigation last year, said she was happy with the action.

``It should have happened sooner,'' Wright said. ``This is the responsibility of the administration, and it has been going on there for years.''

Last year Wright called for the state Inspector General's Office, a newly independent agency, to investigate two areas of concern - that male and female staff members are penalized differently for misconduct and that cases of sexual misconduct among staff and wards is minimized, officials said.

The inspector general's report released Wednesday investigated 51 cases over seven years, officials said. The report was released to Wright and others involved.

Today, Gregory C. Lowe, the assistant superintendent at El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility, will be assigned as superintendent of the Camarillo facility, officials said.

Presley's office said it would be conducting investigations into the report's findings and hopes to resolve the issues as quickly as possible, possibly within 30 days.

Removing the top officials comes as various workers at the facility have been dismissed after internal investigations of problems at the facility for young male and female offenders ages 13 to 25.

Internal investigations recently found six cases of criminal wrongdoing of an undisclosed nature that were turned over to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, which has said it is investigating alleged charges of sexual misconduct at the facility.

Charges have been filed against teacher Bradley Robbins Gardner, who was arrested in January on suspicion of having sexual relations with a minor.