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New Complaints Have Emerged, Alleging Widespread Sexual Abuse At Six Juvenile Facilities Operated By Maryland's Department Of Juvenile Services.

According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on December 20, asserts that minors detained in county juvenile camps and detention centers endured abuse while in custody. The plaintiffs' attorneys argue that the county's negligence, including inadequate hiring policies to screen for potential sexual predators within its facilities and the failure to provide proper training and supervision for staff, resulted in harm to hundreds of minors.

National media outlets are covering a lawsuit initiated by ACTS Law partner Doug Rochen, representing nearly 300 victims who claim to have suffered sexual abuse in Los Angeles County juvenile camps and detention halls.

The allegations include instances of grooming, unsupervised access by inmates leading to verbal and physical abuse, and insufficient employee training in adherence to appropriate standards. According to the plaintiffs' lawyers, Los Angeles County did not fulfill its duty to provide the necessary supervision to safeguard juvenile detainees.

More Information About the Various Allegations Listed in the Lawsuit

The lawsuit alleges that boys and girls in these facilities experienced repeated sexual assaults by probation and detention officers, spanning from the 1970s to 2018. According to the ACTS Law website, the incidents that occurred in various juvenile halls, including:

  • Camp Scott;
  • Camp Kenyon Scudder (girls facilities);
  • Challenger Memorial Youth Center;
  • The Los Padrinos, Central; and,
  • Barry J. Nidorf juvenile halls.

The allegations encompass grooming, unsupervised inmate access resulting in verbal and physical abuse, and insufficient training of employees regarding appropriate standards. The lawsuit argues that L.A. County failed to provide adequate supervision to ensure the safety of juvenile detainees.

This legal action has garnered attention from multiple publications, including the L.A. Times, CBS News LA, the Washington Examiner, and others.

Doug Rochen, A Partner At Acts Law, Expressed His Outrage at Lawsuit Details

Rochen said that it is disgraceful that the abuse endured by these minor victims persisted for decades within the control of Los Angeles County's juvenile detention system without consequences or recourse.

“It’s an absolute disgrace that the pandemic multiple-decade-long abuses of these minor victims within the exclusive control of Los Angeles County’s juvenile detention system were allowed to run its course for as long as they did with no consequences or recourse,” Doug Rochen, a partner at ACTS Law, which filed the lawsuit, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn strongly condemned the accusations, labeling them "stomach-turning." She called for accountability and criminal charges against the officers responsible for the abuse.

As stated in the lawsuit, one survivor, a then-13-year-old girl, alleges that:

  • A group of deputy probation officers sexually abused and harassed her while she was alone brushing her teeth;
  • She was promised "extra food and extra privileges" in exchange for allowing them to touch her;
  • When she refused, she was restrained and subjected to a brutal and painful rape.

The lawsuit also describes a then-17-year-old boy who claims to have been sexually abused and harassed by a deputy probation officer on over ten separate occasions. The officer allegedly entered his cell at night, provided alcohol to make him intoxicated, and subjected him to sexual assault.

Allegations Against At Least 10 Los Angeles County Probation Officers And Staff Members

In another report from the Los Angeles Daily News, twenty women submitted legal documents in court, making allegations against at least 10 Los Angeles County probation officers and staff members, claiming they were subjected to sexual abuse, harassment, and rape during their time as minors at Camp Joseph Scott in Santa Clarita.

The lawsuit, which has yet to be officially filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, asserts that the abuses occurred between 1996 and 2001 at this juvenile detention facility, which housed young individuals convicted of criminal offenses and was operated by the county Probation Department. Camp Scott was subsequently closed in 2020, and at the time of these alleged incidents, it accommodated females aged 12 to 18.

The court papers submitted by the plaintiffs state that this legal action aims to vindicate the rights of numerous women who were sexually abused, harassed, and molested by Los Angeles County deputy probation officers and employees.

According to the plaintiffs, sexual harassment, assault, and rape by deputy probation officers acting as guards were widespread and went unaddressed by supervisors.

The alleged abuses, as per the plaintiffs' court documents, were carried out solely to fulfill the alleged perpetrators' sexual desires at the expense of vulnerable and defenseless juveniles.

The attorney representing the plaintiffs emphasized that this case sheds light on an alleged culture of child sexual abuse that has persisted within the Los Angeles County juvenile probation system for many decades. He asserted that vulnerable children often enter the system due to prior abuse suffered at home or on the streets and argued that the probation system should provide restorative justice rather than perpetuating a cycle of abuse. A call for accountability for those who used their positions of authority to assault these children sexually and for those who enabled them.

The Los Angeles County probation officers are responsible for the well-being of approximately 3,000 youths in 21 halls and camps, making it one of the largest juvenile justice systems in the nation. The plaintiffs allege that over the past two decades, Probation Department facilities have faced numerous allegations of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and rape of both male and female boys and girls by officers and employees.

The plaintiffs' court documents claim that as a result of the alleged abuses, the victims now struggle with trust issues concerning males and authority figures, have difficulties with interpersonal relationships, experience physical symptoms such as nausea and headaches, suffer from flashbacks, and have trouble sleeping.

This Law Temporarily Paused California's Statutes Of Limitations

This lawsuit was filed within a window provided by a 2020 state law, allowing individuals to sue for sexual abuse claims from past decades. This law temporarily paused California's statutes of limitations, providing an opportunity to seek civil damages.

After 2022, suits can only be filed if the alleged incidents are less than 40 years old or if it has been five years since the plaintiffs experienced psychological effects from past sexual abuse.

CAJuvJustice.com firmly believes that every victim of sexual abuse within active and closed juvenile hall detention facilities in California should seek justice and compensation through the legal system.

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