A statement from a victim, a cell phone picture, a confession.
This is the evidence authorities say they have to support molestation charges in a case involving an employee at Children's Hospital and incapacitated patients in his care.
NADIA BOROWSKI SCOTT / Union-Tribune
Wayne Albert Bleyle, shown at his arraignment in March, has pleaded not guilty to child pornography and molestation charges.
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It's not enough.
Investigators working to put Wayne Albert Bleyle away for life are searching for additional evidence, and at least one legal expert said they need more.
“There's every effort being made to go through all the evidence to see if there's any potential to identify any other molestation victims,” said a source close to the investigation, who asked not to be identified so as not to jeopardize the case.
The prosecutor handling the case said Bleyle admitted everything to police.
“The hurdle is proving it, corroborating what he said,” the source said, noting investigators “have to find a way to make the evidence speak for kids who can't talk. . . . It could impact how much time he gets.”
As new details emerge in the case, it has become clear investigators are struggling.
“You can't just convict someone of molesting a child just because they said they did it,” said Justin Brooks, a criminal law professor at California Western School of Law in San Diego. “You have to be able to prove the molestation charges apart from the confession. You need other evidence.”
Bleyle, who has no criminal record, pleaded not guilty last month to 24 counts of child pornography and two counts of child molestation. He is being held on a $5 million bond at the George Bailey Detention Facility.
As an accused child molester, he is being housed in a isolated area for his protection, jail officials said.
Bleyle, a respiratory therapist at the Kearny Mesa hospital, had unfettered access to the facility's 59-bed convalescent ward, the source said. He lost his job after the charges were filed against him last month.
Police believe Bleyle, 54, molested children and adults in the ward multiple times a week, the source said. Most couldn't talk or defend themselves.
During his March 10 arraignment, Deputy District Attorney Laura Gunn said Bleyle told police he molested children and traded child pornography on the Internet. Gunn said she can't discuss the case outside of court.
While investigators said Bleyle used his cell phone to take pictures of some of his victims, they have had trouble finding photos and patients that can confirm most of what he allegedly confessed to.
At least one victim died before the investigation began, and the search for evidence has become “tedious and labor intensive,” the source said, noting more than 100 people have been questioned.
Computer forensic experts are closely examining more than 1,000 pictures of child pornography taken from Bleyle's computer, the source said. The process could take weeks, and it might not turn up fresh evidence.
“Probably a very small number (of the photos) are from Children's,” the source said, noting investigators were quickly able to zero in on some “that appeared to be in a hospital setting.”
Bleyle spent the last 10 of the 26 years he worked at Children's Hospital in the convalescent ward.
The molestation charges being pursued involve two victims from the ward and two pieces of corroborating evidence, the source said.
In one case, police found a photograph they think Bleyle took with his cell phone, of him and a patient, the source said. In the other, the child was able to tell a detective what happened.
Brooks, who also directs the California Innocence Project, said investigators are clearly doing what they can to dig up more physical evidence and witness testimony.
“It's really tough to prove a case when you don't have any witnesses and the victims can't testify,” he said. “Sometimes, with a case like this, when you put it together for trial it doesn't look as good. . . . They've got to show specific acts. Can they do that with a picture from a cell phone?”
Without the molestation charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, Bleyle would face a much lighter sentence if convicted. The harshest penalty among the pornography counts is eight years.
Bleyle's preliminary hearing, to determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial, is scheduled for May 25. His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Michael Begovich, said it is premature to comment while the investigation is ongoing.
Police investigated Bleyle for about a month before arresting him March 8 in Alpine.
The source said the pace of the investigation picked up once investigators persuaded a judge to issue a search warrant, which was served at Bleyle's house in Santee six days before the arrest.
Police retrieved Bleyle's computer during the search. Bleyle was in Buffalo, N.Y., visiting his father. His wife, who was home, called him and told him police were there and wanted to talk to him.
A detective quickly secured a tape recorder to the phone and recorded the conversation, the source said.
Later that night, according to the Children's Hospital Web site, police notified hospital officials and told them Bleyle might have victimized some patients at the convalescent facility.
By then, Bleyle was under 24-hour surveillance.
Over the next few days, investigators recorded several calls with Bleyle, the source said.
After the initial phone call, out-of-state agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement started following him. Local authorities continued to track Bleyle after he flew home from Buffalo.
The investigation started as a joint Internet sting between San Diego police and the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. San Diego police and the District Attorney's Office are handling the molestation portion of the case.
Tony Manolatos: (619) 542-4559; tony.manolatos@uniontrib.com
