Counselor faces sex battery charge

By ERIC STIRGUS and MONIQUE FIELDS

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 1, 2000

LARGO -- An employee at a facility for juvenile offenders has been charged with having sex with a 16-year-old girl and is being investigated for having sexual relations with at least three other young women, police said Thursday.

Freddie R. Crayton, 43, of 2724 21st Place in Largo, was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of sexual battery. He is being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Crayton had been working part-time at the Florida Youth Academy, a private, for-profit center that works to rehabilitate high-risk youth offenders, at 12895 Seminole Blvd., near the Largo Mall.

Crayton worked nights as a counselor and mowed the lawn on the grounds, said Joe Miller, a friend of Crayton's who is also manager of the Pinellas County Urban League's north Pinellas operations.

Crayton had worked as a counselor for two summers at the Urban League, Miller said.

"I'm shocked" at the allegations, Miller said Thursday afternoon. "I can't imagine him doing something like that."

Investigators began an inquiry in early November after academy officials told them a 16-year-old girl claimed she was sexually involved with Crayton, said Largo police Lt. Carla Boudrot. The two had consensual sex in a bathroom on the grounds, according to an arrest report. The incident took place in early October, Boudrot said.

After the young woman came forward, three other residents of the center told academy staffers that they had sexual relations with Crayton, Boudrot said.

Crayton was arrested after investigators determined they had enough evidence to charge him, Boudrot said. She declined to give details on the evidence.

The academy's executive director, John Cheney, said the agency was conducting its own investigation and declined comment. Crayton resigned in early November after the investigation began, said Catherine Arnold, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Juvenile Justice.

The facility was bought in September from Charter Behavioral Health Systems by Dr. DevyaniDesai, who had been a mental health consultant for Charter.

The center has 96 beds for young women and 18 for young men, Arnold said.

The length of the stay depends on how fast youths can prove they will not be arrested if released, Arnold said. The facility is for youths up to 18 years old, although someone can stay longer if that person needs more time to progress.

Crayton has a wide array of involvement with young people. Two years ago, after an 18-year-old African-American man was shot and killed in the Ridgecrest community near Largo, Crayton created Brothers Helping Others, a youth mentorship program to work with young African-American men in the neighborhood.

Since 1990, Crayton has also been a bus driver for the Pinellas County School Board.

Crayton is an employee in good standing with good evaluations, said spokesman Ron Stone. During his tenure, no complaints have been filed with the School Board.

However, if he is released from jail and reports to work, he will be directed to report to the School Board's office of professional standards. Administrators will then decide whether to put him on leave with pay or reassign him to a job where he does not serve children.

"We can't take actions on allegations, but we do want to take precautions," Stone said.

- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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