Former CCMH counselor was serial abuser

Alby worked as a therapist in Columbia and Washington counties in the 1990s, often counseling children and spending time with them privately, court filings indicate

A former counselor in Columbia County named in a civil lawsuit has a history of child sex abuse complaints against him, but most resulted not in conviction, but payouts.

Records show Dean Gordon Alby, 59, has now been named in three separate lawsuits over child sex abuse, in addition to convictions of sexual abuse and sodomy in 1993.

Alby worked as a therapist in Columbia and Washington counties in the 1990s, often counseling children and spending time with them privately, court filings indicate.

The former counselor was fired from Tualatin Valley Mental Health sometime between 1992-93 over complaints of sexual contact with children he was supervising at an adolescent day center in Hillsboro.

Shortly afterward, he was hired by Columbia County Family Counseling, which now operates as Columbia Community Mental Health.

A lawsuit filed in June seeks $1.1 million over allegations Alby sexually abused a man when he was a child getting treatment there in the 1990s. The complaint was filed in civil court because the case is too old to seek criminal charges. The case is still pending in Columbia Circuit Court, with a potential settlement to be considered by both parties later this month.

The lawsuit isn't a unique complaint, but it represents a pattern of settlements that may have kept Alby out of jail and left the door open for more abuse.

Alby was first named in a civil complaint, along with his employer at the time, Tualatin Valley Mental Health, in March 1992. The suit was later dismissed after it was settled with the plaintiffs for an undisclosed amount the following year.

In that complaint, the family of a child sued for negligence, assault and battery, alleging Alby pulled a child patient against him while Alby was sexually aroused, then rubbed the child's shoulders and back before placing his hand up the patient's shirt.

The former child therapist was sued again in 1995, when a jury awarded a teen girl and her family $1.6 million in another negligence lawsuit — this time against Alby's new employer, CCMH.

The lawsuit notes CCMH's alleged "failure to conduct a reasonable investigation into the background and character of Alby..."

CCMH did not immediately respond to requests for comment after this year's lawsuit was filed, but later issued a statement, noting the organization's longstanding presence in the community for over 40 years.

"Our hearts go out to anybody that has sought help and was not able to find that help," Jay Yedziniak, compliance officer at CCMH, stated back in July. "We are deeply disturbed by the allegations made against a former counselor for acts alleged to have occurred more than twenty-five years ago. We are working to investigate these allegations, but are unable

to comment further at this time."

Yedziniak said the agency currently has a rigorous background check process, that includes a multi-layer approach with reference checks, drug testing, and a criminal history check with the Department of Human Services, among other steps.

Alby served a prison sentence after his 1993 conviction, and now lives in Portland and works for the Oregon Food Bank, according to sex offender registry records.