Ex-state worker charged in child porn case

David Kihara

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 | 11:11 a.m.

A former worker at the state's psychiatric hospital for children in Las Vegas pleaded guilty in Clark County District Court to possessing child pornography, the Nevada attorney general's office said.

Edward Burdelas pleaded guilty on Sept. 12 to four counts of possessing child pornography and faces between four and 24 years in prison, said Conrad Hafen, chief deputy attorney general, on Wednesday.

"We have zero tolerance for such conduct," Hafen said.

Burdelas, 43, was an employee at the Desert Willow Treatment Center, the state's 58-bed facility on West Charleston Boulevard near Jones Boulevard, which treats youths aged 6 to 18 who are suffering from mental disorders.

The facility also treats juvenile sex offenders, and Burdelas, a mental health technician, was responsible for monitoring the youth sex offenders, Hafen said.

"He watched them while they were sleeping and while they were showering to make sure they didn't re-offend each other," he said.

Hafen said no juveniles at the facility complained about Burdelas' conduct.

Burdelas was employed with the state at the facility from 2001 to Dec. 18, 2004, said Chrystal Main, social services advocate for the Division of Child and Family Services.

Because employee records are confidential, Main could not comment on why the state continued to employ Burdelas 10 days after his arrest, she said.

Main said the Division of Child and Family Services conducts background checks on potential employees with the FBI, local authorities and abuse and neglect agencies. She said Burdelas had no prior record of misconduct, according to the division's records.

The authorities found out about Burdelas' activities when a computer technician attempting to fix a computer virus discovered that an employee at the treatment center was downloading child pornography, Hafen said.

The authorities tracked the downloaded photos or videos to a computer with Burdelas' user name and password, Hafen said.

"The public integrity unit will continue to aggressively prosecute state employees who violate the law," Hafen said.

Mental health technicians such as Berdales are the "direct-care providers" responsible for feeding the youths, transporting them to therapies and 24-hour monitoring, said Patty Merrifield, deputy administrator for the Division of Child and Family Services in Las Vegas.

Technicians shared these responsibilities with nurses, but Merrifield could not comment on whether the technicians are left alone with the clients.

Although it is not a high skill position, Merrifield said, technicians require specialized training and certification through DCFS.

Merrifield couldn't comment on why the child porn on Burdelas' computer wasn't discovered sooner.

She said the computer and technical staff can check any content being downloaded by employees.

"The computers are state property -- not personal property -- and we treat them as such," she said.