State Closes 5 Machado Homes, Alleges Sexual Incidents, Abuse

Declaring that developmentally disabled patients had been “sexually exploited and abused,” the state Department of Social Services Friday ordered the closing of five of the six Machado Family Homes in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

The action follows a lawsuit filed two months ago by Orange County’s Development Disability Center that accused Norlan Machado Jr. of abusing two male patients. Machado would not comment Friday on the state’s order. He referred all questions to the family’s attorney, Ernest J. Franceschi Jr., who said his clients are innocent. He said he will file a written response to the state’s license revocation efforts on Monday.

Most of the patients had been removed before Friday, officials said.

Cathleen Norris, a Department of Social Services spokeswoman in Sacramento, said a state investigation revealed that patients had been “sexually exploited and abused” at the homes. She said some patients had been burned and accused administrators at the facilities of failing to provide adequate care and supervision.

All County Facilities Ordered Closed

The agency ordered the closure of all four facilities the Machados operate in Orange County. They are located at 9123 Evergreen Drive, 5271 Lincoln Ave., 5752 Orange Ave., all in Cypress, and 8230 Briarwood St. in Stanton.

Norris said another facility in Los Angeles County also was ordered closed but that no problems were found at the Machado family’s Torrance home, which was allowed to stay open.

The five homes, which are run by Machado and his mother, Maria Machado,, provided care for 42 adult patients. However, since the investigation began early in May, most of the patients have been removed by the Development Disabilities Center of Orange County, which places disabled adults in homes under contract with the state.

Harry J. Taylor, a supervisor at the center, said Friday that 10 patients remained at the Orange County facilities when the state ordered the homes to close. He said four patients were at the Lincoln facility and two each at the Briarwood, Evergreen and Orange homes.

7 Patients Under Supervision

He said only seven of the 10 patients removed Friday were under the center’s supervision. The Development Disabilities Center had removed 24 other patients in the past month from the four facilities after claiming that the Machado family was providing inadequate care at the facilities and had abused some of the patients.

Taylor also said the center had helped families arrange for the relocation of the patients ordered removed Friday from the homes.

Tearful parents of two patients expressed sadness Friday when they went to retrieve their children. Charles and Shirley Wolff of Los Alamitos, who have been staunch supporters of the Machado family, were angry that they had to move their son, Bryce, 29. Their autistic son, who was moved to another home in Anaheim, had lived at the Lincoln Avenue home seven years.

“They gave excellent care,” Shirley Wolff said. “It’s a sad day. They are swooping down like vultures.”

Carolyn Gilmore of Santa Ana had to remove her daughter, Vicki, 27. She had lived at the Orange Avenue home for eight years.

“We’re all heartbroken. We think they’ll come back here some day,” the mother said. “We’re going to work for it. I’ve never seen my child abused.”

Norris said the Machado family has 15 days in which to respond to the state’s efforts to revoke its license. A court hearing will follow.

“This is something we knew might come down,” Franceschi said, referring to a two-month feud between the family and the DDC over the center’s attempts to remove patients. “But my clients will be vindicated.”

Center officials have claimed that some patients at the Machado Family Homes had been physically and sexually abused over a four-year period. They said that two patients had been burned by the use of excessively hot water while they showered.

In 1983, one patient, who was unable to communicate verbally, was found to be 16 weeks pregnant. Two months ago, another patient also was discovered to be pregnant.

Two male patients also were sexually abused in recent months, center officials said.

Sought Injunction

After allegations of neglect and abuse were lodged by center officials, the Machado family filed a lawsuit against the regional center in May, seeking an injunction to block the removal of patients.

Later, the family of Scott Peters, who was one of the patients relocated Friday, filed a $10-million lawsuit against the center for removing him from a Machado home last month without its consent. Peters, a 22-year-old retarded man, was later returned to the Machado home on Evergreen Drive.

The center then filed suit against Norlan Machado Jr., accusing him of sexually abusing the two adult patients at the Evergreen Avenue home, where Machado also lives.

Center officials were unavailable Friday or declined comment, citing the lawsuits.

Times staff writer Lynn Smith contributed to this story.