Targets another contestant's mom, who works for the DA
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com
Miss Ventura County 2005, who was dethroned the same year and later accused by pageant organizers of theft and perjury, fought back Friday at a press event organized by her attorney.
Hilary Gushwa, then a Moorpark resident, lost her title and the right to wear her crown when pageant officials learned she was married at the time she participated in the local competition.
Gushwa says she is the target of an "angry beauty pageant mother who is upset that her daughter lost a competition."
"I won Miss Ventura County 2005. I applied for the competition in August of 2004 and every representation I made in my application was true and accurate," Gushwa said Friday.
Records show Gushwa got married in Las Vegas on Oct. 10, 2004. The pageant took place Oct. 23, 2004.
Pageant rules dictate that entrants "must never have been married, never had a marriage annulled, or been pregnant."
The Ventura County Scholarship Association, which organizes the pageant, sued Gushwa for $5,000 in small claims court earlier this year, alleging that she knowingly and fraudulently misrepresented herself as single in order to compete. The civil court awarded the association $3,121 in July. Gushwa paid the debt.
Pageant organizers filed a police report in August, accusing Gushwa of grand theft and alleging she committed perjury during the civil trial.
In self -defense
Last week Gushwa, speaking outside her attorney's office in Ventura, refuted the allegations. Along with her attorney, Ron Bamieh, she pointed the finger at Jackie Youngern, a committee member of the Ventura County Scholarship Association.
Bamieh maintains Gushwa committed no malfeasance when she accepted the title, and said the driving force behind the allegations is Youngern, is the mother of another 2005 pageant contestant.
He alleged that Youngern used her professional credentials as an investigative assistant with the Ventura County district attorney's office to intimidate witnesses and solicit clerks at government offices to obtain records.
"It's beneath her, it should not be done," said Bamieh, who had worked on several unrelated cases with Youngern when he was employed at the DA's office.
Gushwa said her family has received disturbing phone calls and been harassed since the filing of a police report made the allegations public.
On the subject of the missing crown- actually a tiara- Gushwa said she had given it to a seriously ill young girl after the small claims court ruled she didn't have to return it.
The former beauty queen also repeated her earlier statement that she does not remember getting married. She said she went to Las Vegas with her then-boyfriend, David Scanlan, just to visit his parents before the mid-October pageant.
Gushwa said that during that period of time she was taking prescription medication and also drinking alcohol, and that her ability to make sound decisions was affected.
"My memory of much of the evening where I was supposedly married in a Las Vegas wedding chapel is hazy at best," Gushwa said. "Those who've made statements to the contrary are ignorant of the facts or are motivated by something other than the truth."
Gushwa said she and Scanlan broke up shortly after the Las Vegas trip.
"I never even told my family that I was married . . . because I never believed or thought for one moment that I was," she said.
Her attorney said the marriage was nullified early in 2005 by the state of Nevada and that under the law, the marriage never existed.
Who keeps the crown "We're just trying to get Hilary to do the right thing and return the crown," said Sandy Bryan, executive director of the scholarship association. If the crown was indeed given to a girl who is ill, the VCSA may let her keep it, Bryan said.
"We're not trying to be mean to little girls; we just don't know the circumstances," she said.
According to Lori Barondess, who serves on the pageant committee with Youngern, said the organization, not Youngern, initiated the small claims court proceedings and filed the police report.
In addition, Youngern's daughter's role in the competition was not significantly affected by Gushwa's actions because the other woman finished third, not second.
"Only the first runnerup was directly affected, since she was not able to compete (as Miss Ventura County) in the Miss California competition because there was not enough time to prepare her," Barondess said.
Pageant organizers said they learned about the marriage the week before Gushwa was to represent the county in the state competition.
"The sister of the groom called the head of the Miss California pageant to say Gushwa was married," said Barondess, adding that she and Scanlan's mother provided photos and details of the wedding.
Youngern refused to comment for this story. An internal DA's office investigation may take place to determine whether Youngern had in any way abused her authority.
Gushwa said she does not desire revenge or retaliation. "It was our hope that Ms. Youngern would learn from her mistake as Ms. Gushwa has from hers," Bamieh said.
Gushwa began to compete in pageants at age 16, and created Heart2Heart, a nonprofit organization that promotes bone marrow drives to help leukemia patients.
She said she hoped the widely publicized allegations will not affect the group's ability to raise awareness and money for the National Marrow Donor Program.
She has been a national spokesperson for the City of Hope and earned a Volunteer of the Year award from the Moorpark Chamber of Commerce.
According to her website, Gushwa won the 2007 Miss Ventura County International pageant, an event organized by Crowning Glory Productions.
Source: Simi Valley Acorn
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