Attorneys seek federal probe of Los Angeles County sexual abuse allegations

Associated Press

6 days ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Attorneys representing over 200 women said Tuesday they want the federal government to investigate allegations of rampant sexual abuse that occurred over decades at juvenile bootcamps run by the Los Angeles County probation department.
The request comes months after Los Angeles County officials agreed to a $4 billion payout to settle 7,000 claims of sexual abuse in juvenile facilities since 1959, the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history.
Attorneys whose clients were not a part of the deal said in a letter Monday to U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli that the settlement was not enough because there has been no information about who it happened or who was responsible. They are asking the Department of Justice to open a probe.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment.
The attorneys' clients were between the ages of 12 and 17 when they were sent to camps designated for 'at-risk youth' who had committed minor offenses, separate from the juvenile halls. Some parents were charged tuition for attendance, the attorneys said.
John Manly, one of the attorneys, said during a news conference Tuesday that the camps were akin to the island owned by Jeffrey Epstein where he allegedly brought underage girls to be exploited.
He said the most notorious was Camp Joseph Scott, located in Santa Clarita. It housed an all-girls population with a capacity of 125 residents and was shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the city of Santa Clarita.
'The sad and unbelievable truth is these camps were dens of sexual predation where LA County probation officers in charge of helping these children get on track turned them into human sex toys,' the attorneys said.
His colleague, Courtney Thom, said one former deputy probation officer, Thomas Jackson, had been accused by at least 30 women of sexual assault during their time in the custody of the probation department. A civil lawsuit involving these allegations against Jackson is scheduled to go to trial in August.
'When our client was released back to her grandmother, this deputy probation officer went out to her home and would take her from her home to areas within the community to continue sexually abusing her and continued to contact her and torment her throughout her adult life as well,' Thom said.
Jackson's attorney, Tom Yu, said his client is 'innocent of the allegations brought by those who received billions of dollars in taxpayers' money. As usual, the county abandoned their defense and blamed the employees.'
Jackson's case was referred by the county to prosecutors for investigation in December 2023 but they declined to prosecute because the alleged incidents happened too long ago, according to an April 7 memo, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Jackson resigned in 2023 after working for the county for decades and is now collecting a pension, according to Thom.
'Not one of those current or former LA County Probation Department officers has been prosecuted, not one has been arrested,' Thom said. 'Without a full investigation about what happened ... how can anyone assure this won't happen again?'
The county's Office of County Counsel said in a statement that it is working with authorities to hold those who committed abuse accountable, but records are no longer available in many of the cases.
'The childhood sexual abuse claims in question span many decades,' the statement said. 'In addition, plaintiffs' attorneys have not produced evidence enabling the County to identify perpetrators in the vast majority of claims.'
Nonetheless, the statement said, the county 'wholeheartedly supports efforts to ensure that those who have committed crimes against minors are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'
The plaintiffs in the $4 billion settlement were able to sue because of a California law that took effect in 2020 and suspended the statute of limitations for childhood sex abuse victims to bring cases for three years.
Manly and Thom have represented plaintiffs in several high-profile sexual abuse cases, including gymnasts in their lawsuit against USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was accused by more than 300 women and girls of sexual assault and is serving three prison sentences that will likely keep him locked up for life.
The letter also called for an investigation of whether the county concealed allegations of ongoing abuse at the juvenile facilities when the Justice Department investigated the facilities in 2006 and established a federal monitor in 2008. It found that the county had completed all of its required reforms by 2014.