Fresno Famous

i was in that grouphome

recently &as i watch staff &the way it is managed they still faud &theive on the money my county paid for me &my son they need too run a close observation on how they still run this company &lie about how much they should spend they dont know how to run a corpation and are very blind as to who they hire i have met few very nice &noble staff i love them and appreciate them without them i would have never gotten threw that progam seeing it as a positive expierience those also see the wayz of theyre bosses they tried to hide the newspaper from us when this was published about the genesis case but we already knew &i had expiernces waching them allow a fight to happen that ended with a girl bleeding horribly out the mouth with chunks of her skin she accidently had bitten of after the other girl grabbed a pot and again nobody stopped her but the resident they are not in shape to handle this & are just waiting to get another lawsuit

This is an odd spot for

This is an odd spot for Saudi real estate spam.

They did not admit their

They did not admit their wrongdoing. They denied all that and showed no remorse. They expected people to feel sorry for them because they were "publicly and personally ruined" which was brought on by their own actions.   Even though Elaine didn't get jail time the first time around, it caught on to her due to the fact that most of the Fresnans that followed through with the case who weren't happy with the verdict would remember her face when she went to public places which she was supposed to be at home. She will never be able to show her face in public the same way again without people having having a stigma against her.

Stick to the facts

By the way, if we want to stick to the facts, I would suggest a careful reading of the sentence hearing and why you only heard support for the criminals. Judge Vogt denied the people the opportunity to present anything else!!! That sentencing hearing was steered 100% for the criminals, and it was all clearly visible in court. So, yet again, it is a ludicrous statement to say that there was only support. That is all that was ALLOWED. We were never given an opportunity to SPEAK OUT against them. But finally that same judge has even had enough of their arrogance. Thank God!

Unfortunately

This turn of events recently has brought this post up again.
I understand everyone's frustration with Elaine and her latest situation but I think it's only fair to see the two sisters as completely seperate people.

"these ladies" didnt violate their probation, Elaine did. Carol has done everything in her power to stay out of the spotlight and to continue her work with the kids.
She is not Elaines sidekick; she has a mind of her own.

Carol is doing some serious rehabbing and making her ammends to the community by following the court order and commiting herself fully to her work.

Keep that in mind.

Examine the Evidence

Just like the lies they told about where this latest party was, these ladies and their fellow criminal buddies have lied all along. Take a look at the actual evidence in the case and not their lying comments, and you will see that they stole so much money from those kids its insane! People defend them by pointing to the "great work" for the kids. If these "defenders" actually cared one bit for those kids, they would be outraged at the massive taxpayer dollars stolen from those very same kids. The evidence in the case is disheartening, because it shows a massive disregard for those kids and the public. And here we see how they continue to consider themselves above the law, and how misguided people continue to defend them. It's tragic for the kids.

I think the problem is the

I think the problem is the fact that she violated terms of her probation. From the beginning of this case she has acted as if she was above the law. Finally the law is taking action against her.
She was found guilty of being in violation of probation. Hopefully she will serve time.

From ABC 30 news website

Fresno, CA (KFSN) -- A Fresno County judge has just found Genesis Group Homes CEO Elaine Bernard did violate her probation when she attended a party last month.
Investigators recently obtained a published photograph showing Bernard at a March reception. The judge previously ordered Bernard not to attend social events.
The judge will sentence Elaine Bernard Monday April 20. Prosecutors want a judge to send Bernard to a California State Prison for 90 days to see if she is a suitable candidate for prison.
The Fresno County Probation Department wants Bernard to spend a year in jail.

They have admitted their

They have admitted their wrong-doing! They have been tried by a court, they have been in the public eye for several years, and yes they are publicly and personally ruined! But...they believe in the vision of helping the youth of Fresno, and God knows we need people who will step up and do this. I don't recall ANYONE speaking against them when the judge asked does anyone want to come forward? There was only many, many, supporters. I guess these are people that ACTUALLY saw how they ran their homes, and saw their clients. As I remember, there was a few "group-home girls" that spoke up at the hearing in support of Elaine and Carol. There was also many letters written by past residents. Hmmm. Lets really lock up the criminals---okay from l that knows.

Thieves

I worked with one of these ladies many years ago at a now defunct dept. store...she was let go for stealing...not prosecuted, maybe she made restitution then...this was during her education....guess her education taught her how to steal at epic proportions?

They both belong in jail....maybe one of them will still see jail time as I am sure they feel they got away with it again...

Put them in prison and

Put them in prison and throw-away the key!

Those sisters should've

Those sisters should've provided better clothes for those kids. They slapped on clothes from Walmart on the children and said, "We've done our job now let's use the money we saved from buying cheap things for the kids and go shopping at high end retail stores for ourselves." They've treated those those children and probably still do like they're in prison. For those of you who think that Elaine and Carol are good women, it's just an act. Like actress Joan Crawford, many peolple believed that she was a good woman because she did good deeds for children. When she died, they found out that it was all an act.

Who would speak against her?

If you have the president of Fresno State saying that the Bernard's education (from Fresno state) failed to teach them NOT TO STEAL, the board of directors, employees, Bernard's mother (who was supposed to get the company if any jail time occurred) and other famous in the community, would you step up and say "what about the children?"

If you wanted to work in that industry again, you would not. They forced a huge expense on the legal system, they bullied their friends and employees to speak up for them, and they stole from the system to support a lavish lifestyle while leaving the kids to wear t-shirts and shorts from walmart. While Genesis paid the legal fees, the company fired employees for "stealing".

Sad thing is they still RUN company and no one is investigating how they are running it now. To let them continue their work "for the community" is a crime on social working. For anyone in social working to speak in their defense is a crime on their education and background.

Eveyone steals from the children in Fresno.

Look what Fresno Unified does.
Dont forget Fresno CORAL.
Where is Roy Mendiola and what happened to the millions?
What about all the money they got paid to do after school programs and were not even there?
What happened to the Waterman House Community Center and the Hi-Tech Media Center Fresno Coral bragged about?
Well H. Spees care to answer that for is?
What about Mrs Joan "Joanne" "what ever name" Wiley using names and SSN of kids she never provide therapy for billing the government?
What happened to her?
When your rich and steal you get away with it.

Genesis Case

It's really sick that a lot of the taxpayers' money spent on this case went basically nowhere. Elaine and Carol shouldn't have been let off easy. Based on Elaine and Carol's educational background, they should have already known better that stealing is wrong. Just because you've made sacrifices doesn't mean you can break the law. If those ladies didn't make those sacrifices in the early years of Genesis, they wouldn't have the privilege of a high paying job which they have abused.
Years before Elaine and Carol were caught they were given many warnings. Many of the children voiced their concerns regarding their needs and even many of the employees raised their concerns, but Elaine and Carol chose not to listen and just did what they wished. Isn't that the whole point of the child welfare agency is the agency going by the children's needs and not how Elaine and Carol want it?! They were thinking, "It's "my" company, nobody tells me how to run "my" company." Those two employees that reported Elaine and Carol's illegal activity did the right thing. Maybe the reason why no employee reported this earlier was that they were afraid of getting fired.
The thing where one of the jurors knew the family didn't vote them guilty, isn't that illegal to have someone who knew the defendant and/ or the defendant's/defendants' family to serve as a juror? I think that is unethical.
Elaine and Carol's punishment is not good enough. Sine they're not getting jail time, they should be ordered to do a lot of community service such as picking up trash and cleaning up graffiti, not working with people type of community service since that would be too easy for them. They would get a taste of their own medicine by experiencing what a lot of hard working taxpaying citizens have to do for money while Elaine and Carol got to sit back and enjoy the taxpayers money. The only difference is that Elaine and Carol wouldn't get paid.
They should be fired from their job. It's not like they're irreplaceable. There are a lot of people who can run a child welfare agency, are good with children, and wouldn't steal.

I'm glad that it is over for

I'm glad that it is over for thier family. Elaine Bernard and Carol De la torre admitted that what they did was wrong.... there have been many other non-profit organization that have run into similar issues and actually stole money from clinics. For example, Ms. Disney from Valley Health Team Clinic who stole $400,000 for her salary and the Clinic was diminishing.... Yes, Genesis CEO took money but still the Company has flourished, they never ran out of money for their foster children and they now have other resources, like an art center for thier children. My point is that thier is a board of directors in house and Ms. Disney case was brought to the DA and the DA advised Valley Health Team Clinic that they needed to take care of it in house. Ms. Disney was not tried, it was considered to be a civial case and not a criminal case. Ms. Disney was fired. However, Elain Bernard payed back a significant amount back as well as her sisters, and tried.

If they Prosecuter wanted to really do their job the first time they should have really screened thier juror more thoroughly, becuase only one juror believed that they were not guilty, the rest did. That juror who beleived that they were not guilty was one who knew the family. So in esense many tax payers are going to spend more money housing two people who are planning and are still paying back a half of a million dollars to jail, and wast more millions? Well, I think the decision to keep them on house arrest was a good decision, remember they have to pay for those monitors they are going to sport!!!!

Future

So will they keep running the organization? Will anyone be looking over the finances of Genesis if they are back on board? If they can come back and do the job without embezzling again, great. But would someone be watching over them?

What the

noise said. Hard to comment without knowing the whole story.

Diablo

It was a very lengthy and

It was a very lengthy and complex case. I can't bring myself to assume that I know anything about
the details of the trial and the law in this situation. Even though they looked guilty when it first appeared in the Bee, yet with so many people in sympathy and a plea deal it looks like justice was finally, ultimately served.

Keep in mind

Keep in mind that Judge Vogt allowed anyone who wanted to speak either for or against them to do so on Monday. Over 80 people stepped up, many members of the Genesis board of directors and local attorneys not to mention about 20 of their former foster children. They all spoke kind words for both women and asked the judge for leniency.
There wasnt one person who spoke against them.

I think they both should

I think they both should have done jail time. They stole from children that had already been given tough breaks in life. The children depended on them for care and support. These women stole money that was to be used for the care and support of these children. How sad is that.
Instead of showing them the way to a better life, they showed them how to steal to make your life improve. What a wonderful lesson to learn!
Now the children have learnt another valuable lesson. If you steal money, then hurry and pay it back, you won't get into trouble and you might even get to keep your job.