Adults with autism faced ‘torture’ at this L.A. group home. Their moms want justice

Gregorio Topete, 30, and his mother, Laura, at Mason Park in Chatsworth. A few months later, someone sent an anonymous letter to Elwyn’s leaders alleging that three staff members, referred to as “monsters,” would grab Newman by the testicles and “sock” him in the head. So what do they do?” Cristina Preuss, the head of the North Los Angeles County Regional Center, which placed Cabanete and Topete in Elwyn-Mayall, said in an email to The Times that it was “inaccurate and incorrect” to say the shortage of beds made regional centers reluctant to shutter homes. “That’s kind of what a regional center does.” Attorneys who represent victims of abuse say it’s created a “legal nightmare.” “I’ve never been able to find a way to sue the regional center despite seeing this chronic — I mean chronic — problem,” said attorney Kim Valentine, who specializes in cases involving abuse of elders and dependent adults. “There’s no accountability.” * On a sunny late-January day, Laura Topete visited her son at the Northridge home and found him with a bright red welt in the middle of his forehead.