By Brian Anderson
Valley Times

Nov. 3, 2001

HAYWARD — An East Bay youth counselor accused of molesting troubled teens and passing out drugs has been sentenced to six years behind bars and must register as a sex offender.

As part of a deal in which all sexual abuse charges were dropped, Kenneth Ray Davis, 44, pleaded no contest in Alameda County Superior Court to two drug charges and one count of possessing stolen property.

"He seemed to feel resolved to it," said Davis' lawyer William DuBois. "He didn't like the registration requirement. (But) the risk of a trial was too great to not accept the offer." Davis was arrested in May 2000 and charged with dozens of criminal counts ranging from distributing marijuana and cocaine to engaging in sex acts with young boys while working at the Sub-Acute Treatment for Adolescent Rehabilitative Services facility in San Leandro. He maintained that all the acts were consensual, a point that DuBois said Friday might have contributed to the plea agreement.

In an interview just days after his arrest, Davis told the Times that one of the boys made advances toward him. He added that he felt "railroaded" by the arrest.

"There was no coercion; everything was consensual," Davis said while in Santa Rita Jail. "These allegations are killing me."

Davis worked at the center for about a month before he was fired after managers said he acted inappropriately with the teens. Before STARS, Davis was employed at Angels Youth Center in Union City, where one teen told investigators he was abused, court records said.

The victim told police that Davis gave him liquor and cigarettes, rented him hotel rooms and bought him crack. He said Davis planned to open his own center for troubled teens and promised the victim a job as a counselor.

"For a while he kind of made me feel like I was his girlfriend or something," the 17-year-old told detectives in June 2000. "He kind of got possessive over me."

But about a dozen of the 42 eventual charges against Davis were dropped after officials determined some of the victims had lied about their treatment during a preliminary hearing. The rest, except for the three counts he was sentenced for last week, were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

"It was not the greatest case to take to the jury," DuBois said.

In addition to the jail term and sex offender registration, Davis was barred from getting another job as a counselor.

Prosecutor Karen Meredith could not be reached for comment.