VVUHSD's top aide on leave after child abuse allegations surface

VICTORVILLE • The Victor Valley Union High School District has placed the superintendent’s top aide on paid leave after officials discovered she was charged with abusing her teenage stepson 10 years ago, including taking nude photographs of him and forcing him to carry dog feces in his backpack.

Deborah Machnick, 54, joined the district in September 2007 as director of curriculum and instruction and was appointed special assistant to the superintendent six months ago.

Machnick was placed on leave March 11 after a district employee tipped off officials about prior child-abuse charges, Superintendent Marilou Ryder confirmed.

“To be clear now, during her employment there’s been absolutely no complaints or any proof of misconduct at all, but we have certain information that we were obligated to investigate,” Ryder said.

Prosecutors alleged Machnick and her husband, Grady Machnick, a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s sergeant, emotionally and physically abused their then-14-year-old son at their residence in Yorba Linda, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2002.

To discipline the unruly boy, the couple allegedly forced him to sleep outside on a dog mat, prevented him from using the bathroom at night and poured water on him as he slept, the Times reported. The boy was forced to “earn” clean clothes, according to the Times, and was punished for not finishing his math homework or failing to come home from school on time.

Deborah Machnick could not be reached for comment Friday.

An Orange County jury acquitted Deborah and Grady Machnick of conspiring to abuse their son but was divided on whether to convict the Machnicks of mis-demeanor child abuse, leading prosecutors to seek a retrial in 2003, the Times reported.

A few months later, Orange County prosecutors decided the alleged child abuse was egregious enough to add a felony charge of conspiracy to commit child endangerment, which could have led to up to three years in prison, the Times stated, with no further reports available on the case.

The teenage boy reportedly was subsequently placed in a foster home and later joined the Marines.

Ryder said as the district pursues a personnel investigation into Deborah Machnick, they are also examining general hiring practices and policies.

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