Betcha you never heard this recent news, did you? Not if you rely upon the local newspaper.
Kind of makes you wish you didn’t have a dick. Or that you’ll never pull it out again:
He plied her with pot and promises. I’ll give you a car, he told her, an apartment of your own. I’ll protect you from the streets. She was 16. He was 70. For Matilda Evans (a pseudonym to protect the identity of a sexual assault victim) those two weeks spent in Michael Mersola’s Burbank home, manipulated into having sex with him, left a scar on her heart. Instead of learning algebra in a high school classroom, she was taught that acts of kindness only came at a cost. “I developed a terrible distrust of people,” Evans, now 22, said. “I felt alone, because no one believed me.” Evans told her story to the Burbank Police Department in 2007, but it was a Los Angeles Police Department detective who linked Mersola to an ongoing investigation into a larger problem in Los Angeles: sex trafficking. Mersola was arrested for pimping and pandering runaway girls in Hollywood. One was 13 years old. He was imprisoned for those and other offenses… Evans acknowledged that before she met Mersola, she had been acting out, rebelling against her parents and in school. Drugs were involved and she had run away from home. A relative introduced her to Mersola. But after two weeks with him, she realized she was being manipulated and walked away. Still, she was unable to talk about her experiences until her parents forced her into a treatment facility in Reno, where she finally told a therapist about her encounter with Mersola. Evans then went to the Burbank Police, but no charges were filed against Mersola. So Evans’ mom called the LAPD, and Detective Harris connected her case with Mersola’s other victims.
Let’s see, 2007. That must have been when the BPD higher-ups were more concerned about going after their own. They had better things to do with their time, obviously. Like steal from each other.
And it’s not like nobody down there had ever heard of this guy before, either?
Sex Scandal of Wealthy Men Rocks Quiet Town : Courts: Anthony Mersola, 82, and his 56-year-old son Michael might enter a plea bargain Tuesday to keep the publicity-drawing case private.
August 09, 1993|JOSH MEYER | TIMES STAFF WRITER
BURBANK — It all started rather innocuously, with one of those tips police say they always get about a suspicious-looking man hanging around a high school. Usually, they amount to nothing.
But from that one phone call to police last month, an alleged sex scandal has begun to unfold in Burbank that, if true, could bring down a scion of one of the city’s most prominent families, and possibly his 82-year-old father.
Both men have been arrested on charges of paying teen-age girls for sex. The father has been released on bail. The son, Michael A. Mersola, 56, was released on bail but was arrested a second time–and remains in custody–after he allegedly threatened to kill one of the girls and tried to bribe her and the three others with $50,000 each to keep them from testifying.
Authorities suspect that Mersola, an executive of a wealthy construction and real estate family business in Burbank, has for at least 2 1/2 years provided lodging, clothing, drugs–and a lot of money–to young girls in exchange for sex, authorities allege in affidavits, court records and interviews.
One girl told police she had a sexual relationship with Mersola for a year and a half, starting when she was just 14 and a freshman at Burbank High School. Sometimes, she alleges, he paid her $350 cash for intercourse, and other times, she watched him have sex with other girls.
The case has stirred emotions in Burbank, a normally staid community where in some neighborhoods there are still signs reminding people to keep their horses off sidewalks, and where most urban problems of neighboring Los Angeles are but a distant threat.
“It’s a solid town, a conservative town,” said Donald Mangani, acting principal of Monterey High School, a continuation school where Mersola is alleged to have spied on girls with binoculars. “It’s pretty shocking to the community.”
Hold on. Is this the same Don Mangani who used to take up with hot young teenage girls as soon as they graduated from Burbank High, where he was one of the counselors? We alone know of two hot teens that he consorted with back in the mid-70s. Even lived with for a time. We’ll give you their initials, too: D.H. and D.B.
Some spokesman, eh? It’s hilarious to us that he’d be the one speaking up to the papers.***
The Mersola family, after all, is well known in Burbank. Family members frequently make appearances before the City Council on housing issues, participate in local football leagues and other civic activities, and make major contributions to local politicians. The family even opened up a family-oriented batting cage along a main drag in Burbank this summer, parents of some alleged victims note. Burbank police confirm they are investigating allegations that other young girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were involved over a period of years. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Sexually Exploited Child Unit also is investigating Mersola for alleged activities in Los Angeles. “No doubt this is one of the biggest sex scandals our city has had,” said Burbank Police Detective Craig Varner. “It is very involved and it is very large. It’s not something that happens every day.” But what could amount to a potentially embarrassing spectacle of a trial may instead stay a private matter. At an arraignment hearing set for Tuesday in Burbank Municipal Court, Mersola–and his father–may enter a plea bargain to keep the entire matter out of the courts, say some authorities familiar with the case. “Everyone wants to keep this hush hush,” said the mother of one alleged victim. “I am so angry, there’s no way in hell I will let this drop.”
So why didn’t the BPD do more to investigate these latest allegations? LA did. Oh that’s right.
Here’s some more local sleaze:
Burbank Father and Son Arrested on Sex Charges
July 24, 1993|TIMOTHY WILLIAMS | TIMES STAFF WRITER
Police arrested the 82-year-old patriarch of a prominent Burbank family Friday for having unlawful sex with a minor and rearrested his 56-year-old son on charges of pandering, threatening a witness and having sex with underage girls, Burbank police said.
Anthony Mersola and his son, Michael A. Mersola, were arrested Friday morning at their residences in Burbank and Glendale, police Lt. Don Brown said.
Anthony Mersola is a well-known developer and the family owns millions of dollars worth of property in Burbank and Glendale, including several apartment complexes, a warehouse and a parking lot, according to records.
Anthony Mersola, released Friday morning after meeting his $10,000 bond, faces a charge of oral copulation with a minor, Brown said.
Michael Mersola, who remained in Burbank city jail Friday night in lieu of $500,000 bond, was arrested on a warrant charging him with pandering, threatening a witness and having unlawful intercourse with numerous underage girls, Brown said.
On July 15, police arrested Michael Mersola outside one of the family’s rental properties in Burbank for having sex with two girls, ages 14 and 15, Detective Craig Varner said.
Police made the arrest after detectives interviewed the alleged victims, Varner said.
Michael Mersola was freed July 16 when he met his $70,000 bail.
But “since Michael’s release, we’ve turned up evidence of pandering and of his making threats to a witness,” Brown said. Michael Mersola is alleged to have threatened one of the minors with whom he is accused of having sex.
A woman who identified herself as Michael Mersola’s sister-in-law said the family would not comment on the charges, beyond saying, “People are innocent until proven guilty.”
The two men are scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning in Burbank Municipal Court.
Times staff writer Julie Tamaki contributed to this article.
** Great Mangani story: we had an old girlfriend who used to go to him all the time when he was a counselor at BHS. Good looking girl, been around the block more than a few times, and had a store of atypical teenage sex stories under her belt. And a nice person.
So she’d go to Mangani to talk about her problems in this area, or chat, and she’d always thought he was a good listener. Until one day when she suddenly realized that it was more apparent he was getting off on her bluish stories than acting like a disinterested certificated employee.
The final straw was when, somewhat disappointed, she was taken aback when he suddenly stopped her during the middle of one of her graphic depictions of teen lust or angst, or whatever it was, and blurted out to her, in what must have been the most offensive non-sequitur of the year, “Do you find me attractive?”
Smooth, eh?
She told us she giggled out loud and said to him, pretty rapidly and assuredly, “No, I don’t.”
That Don Mangani?
BTW, at the end of his career in Burbank he was working at Monterey High School, counseling– you got it– troubled teenage girls. And he was quite beloved over there at that den of flakes and angry nutcases and washouts.
No, not the kids. They’re fine. It’s the dysfunctional adults down there who are the big problem.
This is damned disturbing. I think I told you about my friend who had a daughter in Burroughs around the same time who had been raped and the manner in which the male BPD officers handled the situation was deplorable. She even posted something about it on this blog. What century do these folks think they live in?
2007 was when the BPD leadership had an incredibly arrogant ‘fuck-you’ attitude towards almost all major complaints. They would even start to menace you if you kept complaining.
I had a friend whose apartment house was getting routinely shot up by gangbangers late at night, over on Valencia, as well as harassed and trespassed upon, and the BPD did NOTHING about it. They could have cared less, and then lied through their teeth about the problem when I finally went to the city council about it.
Of course, the council took their word. And you know who the negligent landlord was, btw?
Brett Howard.
Yes, of Mary Lou fame.
And then of course, there were the well-connected owners of the illegally run “Dr. Phil House” up on Cypress and Bel Aire, at about the same time. The BPD knew damn well the full goings-on up there– as did the city– but lied to everyone about it when people either complained or started to ask questions. And then they tried to defame the critics in order to marginalize them.
Compare that to what happened to LA’s ‘Dr. Phil House’ off of Wilshire. LA shut them down, and that’s when Burbank’s got worse. The show transferred the operations over here.
What’s awful about Burbank is not just its corrupt glad-handing style towards its friends, but the fact that its price is so cheap.
So, exactly what did happen at the “Dr Phil House” on Cypress and Bel Aire???
Dr. Phil was running a TV therapy clinic up there for his show. And everyone lied about it.
He had at least two “Dr. Phil Houses,” one in the Wilshire district and one up on Bel Aire. For the Burbank house they had an extended lease from the owners, who had actually vacated it for a good amount of time. They have some kind of paint business and are well-connected.
But when questioned about it all, the city denied that “Dr. Phil” was doing any filming in Burbank. They even claimed that no filming permits were necessary because they were just using the house “for exteriors.”
Now not only was this a lie, but after LA ordered the Wilshire location closed down because of neighbor complaints, the production company moved the major live-in operations to Burbank.
I’d always suspected they were going on already at that site, as I could see that people were there late at night.
But the city completely covered for Dr. Phil, even though there was a full-time satellite truck and trailer parked right out in front of the house and for which the meter maids were waiving any and all parking tickets! I saw that, too.
The shit hit the fan though when a fight broke out at night among some of Dr. Phil’s more memorable guests. When it spilled out onto Bel Aire the cops got called and all hell broke loose.
My point is that the City of Burbank:
a) Allowed illegal day-and-night filming to go on in an R-1 residential neighborhood without permits,
2) When questioned about it they denied that anything was going on, and
3) Worse, when a couple of council members inquired about the location they were even lied to as well, and told that nothing was going on and that it was a crank complaint.
Anyone who watched the shows could tell that they were doing extensive filming on Bel Aire, both inside and outside. But after the neighbors got involved the city could no longer cover for it.
kudos to whoever blogged this!! Mersola is one sick F*** whos gotten away with these vile crimes for as long as i can remember!
I have lived in this shady little city my entire life and have followed every one of these articles.
Shame on the BPD who basically only gave him a slap on the hand when first busted,he should have served a more severe punishment and had to register as a sex offender way back in 93.
it sickens me that a “PREDATOR” like Mersola was let back into my community to prey again and harm more young girls lives.
As for the recent story with the girl from 2007, i applaud her for having the courage to stand up to him and finally making this “Skumbag” a registered offender (not that it would stop him now!)
He is currently out on our streets so warn your teen daughters Burbank…because his father was still doing it at the age of 86!!!
I rented from the mersolas starting over 20 years ago. .I love their whole family,they are better people then you will ever be.Your the sick F***,stupid bi***.maybe there parents should have been there for their kids,those stupid who*** could of said no . they seduce men and lie about their age so what do they expect .
I was in school at Jordan with this creep. He was a sick criminal then and still is. He should be locked uo forever.
Which one? Most of these guys were older.
I had to tell the Mangani story from the 70s because all you hear is the exact opposite about him. I know/knew better. I was there and also knew the girls. They’re not complaining, but he’d be in trouble now.