In a quick search of the internets for coinciding phrases "Friends for Youth" and "Ayres," I was only able to find two documents with references to both ayres and Friends for Youth, Inc.: The first document was an acrobat document published by the organization in 2009 with a brief mention of the ayres case:
While it appears that there are no cases involving a volunteer from a formal program abusing a child, San Mateo County has seen numerous incidents in recent years where trusted members of the community have committed sex offenses against youth in their professional capacity. The highprofile case of William Ayres, a child psychiatrist from San Mateo who allegedly molested numerous patients over many years, has been headline news.It should be noted that while the article claims that "it appears that no cases involving a volunteer from a formal program abusing a child," ayres himself received a nomination in 2002 (before this report was written) from now Assemblyman Rich Gordon for a "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his "service on the Children and Families First Commission, and his tireless efforts to improve the lives of children and adolescents." -- Read the post just below this one for my recent comment on this. Further, ayres is known to have been on the board of a local YMCA. And during his criminal trial, he mentioned wanting to renew his "medical license"so that he could volunteer for a local medical clinic that helps families in need.
The second document of interest is a Menlo Park council report from 7/16/2007, which mentions that $2,000 was paid to Friends for Youth, Inc. It also mentions that $1,091 was paid to a Barbara Ayres for "Dental" I believe this to be a co-incidence, as there is a Barbara Ayres (sometimes listed as Ayers) who is a police officer working for the City of Menlo Park. I am reasonably certain that this is NOT the child molester william ayres' daughter.
Stogner's letter to editor stated: "I went to the website they supplied and found there is no information on their director or advisory board" but that information was easy to find on their website:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.friendsforyouth.org/ContactUs1.html
http://www.friendsforyouth.org/BoardofDirectors.html
They have very visible 'safe' information about child sexual abuse on the home page.
It does seem odd that they were so reticent about Ayres. I would guess that commenting on far away infamous events was seen as more a no-complications-no-strings-tied way to raise money. Taking a stand on something local might affect elements of the local powers-that-be negatively and have funding repercussions.
Anonymous @November 26, 2011 9:19 AM:
ReplyDeleteYes, their information is available on their page. I would expect that for an organization like this, the design of the page would have some "who we are" information right up front. The first place I'd expect to check is "About Us" yet for some reason, that page is suspiciously lacking any substance.
The organization should understand that the people it is dealing with are inherently mistrusting of most everyone, due to the nature of the abuse they have likely suffered.
FURTHER, to find the board of directors, you have to click the "Contact Us" tab (where the generic front desk phone number and mailing address are normally located) and then find the TINY little sub-tab menu in its non-standard location.
But, Yes, the information is there.
I've heard about their "safe" information program, and what I've heard is all positive. It also appears that some of the folks involved in the program were also involved and/or instrumental in talks that Victoria Balfour gave on the ayres case.
They also list on their page of Honorees the very same Rich Gordon who nominated ayres for his "lifetime achievement award"
I think that you are basically saying something similar to what I am saying somewhat more bluntly: even a good agency can become entrenched in a deal with the devil, putting politics, money, and reputation ahead of standing up for what is right when someone needs to stand up.
I guess it would help to know that they were working behind the scenes to improve things locally as well, but again, when you make a deal with the devil, the devil always has his way with you...
Clarification: the people from Friends for Youth were Attendees, and were not part of the program.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the organization is a mentoring organization, not an organization designed to protect children against abuse. They prominently feature the importance of screening for volunteers.
Nevertheless, their reports to the county about sexual predators in local volunteer work are obviously FAR from accurate; very troubling.
Couple of points, on the website under About Us where most orgs. tell us about themselves there is no information as I stated in my letter, under contact us there is some information but no mention of the advisory board and they may not have one and that's ok.
ReplyDeleteThey fail to include by name Cardell Desmond Brown, who worked for Project 90 and pled guilty to molesting boys that were sent there. It should be noted that DDA Steve Wagstaffe and DA James P. Fox also failed to mention Mr. Cardell D. Brown's arrest at the time.
Michael G. Stogner
Well, I posted a comment to the Friends for Youth article on the Sandusky nightmare...
ReplyDeleteWe'll see how long it sticks, or if we get a comment back. What I posted is below:
A few of us are curious as to why your organization didn't have a similar response to the very parallel situation IN SAN MATEO COUNTY involving William H. Ayres, accused of molesting many boys under the guise of providing psychiatric care. He also was on the Children and Families First Commission, and was even nominated for a "lifetime achievement award" by YOUR "Making A Difference Award" honoree Rich Gordon.
Any plan to "express your sorrow" about all of the children who were victimized by a local "hero?" Some of us have committed suicide and drank ourselves to death.
On another note, someone posted about the Ayres case in the comments section of a New York Times story about an interview with Jerry Sandusky
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/sports/ncaafootball/at-center-of-penn-state-scandal-sandusky-tells-his-own-story.html?hp
Alison New York City
Wrestling, hugging — “I think a lot of the kids really reached out for that,” he said.
This is a classic pedophile response- the children "ask" for it.
By the way, there's a very similar case in San Mateo California, involving Dr. William Ayres, a former President of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Pscyhiatry. Ayres brought troubled boys all sorts of presents; groomed them, and then molested them. There were complaints about Ayres going back to the 1960s to police and to Ayres' partners and to Children's Services and to the California Medical Board. Some doctors say now they strongly suspected Ayres was molesting boys but didn't report him because they didn't want to get involved.
The failure of institutions like the Catholic Church; Penn State; the medical profession; the Boy Scouts and others to deal with this problem is just so very widespread.
What is the current status if his confinement at Napa, and the FBI and or AG investigation of the San Mateo DA?
ReplyDeleteC
Anonymous @December 9, 2011 3:25 PM:
ReplyDeleteI don't know the answer to of any of those three questions.
We heard from the press that ayres checked himself in to Napa State on the day before he was due there. Napa will not reveal information about if or when they release soul-less child molesters back into the general population.
It does seem that if he is released the court will know, so the only thing to do is keep calling the court and referencing his case number (SC064366) to see if there are any changes to status.
I haven't heard much about the FBI or Bar investigation. The AG is not interested in the pursuit of justice against well connected child-molesters like william ayres.
To C:
ReplyDeleteThe California Bar investigation into the San Mateo DA's office for its mishandling of the Ayres case and other cases is still ongoing.
The FBI's investigation is still open. The FBI is asking that anyone with any knowledge of corruption or deception by DA Steve Wagstaffe and his prosecutors and/or any knowledge of DA Steve Wagstaffe covering up crimes committed by San Mateo County employees to contact the San Francisco FBI office.