30 Officers Charged With Allowing ‘Gladiator Fights' at Youth Detention Center

New York Times

04-03-2025

Thirty officers who worked at a youth detention center in Los Angeles County have been charged with allowing — and in some cases, encouraging — gladiator-style fights among the teenagers being held there, California's attorney general said on Monday.
A grand jury indictment charged the detention services officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, Calif., with child endangerment and abuse, conspiracy and battery, the attorney general, Rob Bonta, said.
Mr. Bonta said the 69 fights took place at Los Padrinos from July 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2023. The indictment, he said, stemmed from an investigation opened by the California Department of Justice after video footage of one of the 'gladiator fights' leaked in January 2024.
The footage — published by the The Los Angeles Times last April — shows several officers standing by and at least one appearing to encourage young people as they take turns beating a teenager inside a room at Los Padrinos that was decorated with colored streamers and other Christmas décor.
One of the officers appears to smile at points as she presides over the fights and another shakes hands with one of the teens moments after he knocks down the teenager who was being attacked and kicks him on the floor.
'Watching the video, the officers look more like referees or audience members at a prizefight, not adults charged with the care and supervision of young people,' Mr. Bonta said at a news conference on Monday. 'The officers don't step in, don't intervene and don't protect their charges.'
Investigators later learned that the fight was 'not a one-off, isolated incident,' and that officers at Los Padrinos had allowed or encouraged fights involving 143 young people between the ages of 12 and 18, Mr. Bonta said. He called it a 'deeply disturbing case of child abuse and endangerment.'
Jamal Tooson, a lawyer, represents two of the teenagers involved in the fights. One was the victim who was seen being attacked on the video, when he was 16 years old, Mr. Tooson said.
The other was 17 when he suffered a series of brutal attacks at Los Padrinos, including three attacks in one day that left him unconscious, Mr. Tooson said. He incurred a traumatic brain injury as a result, he said. Both clients are suing the county over the attacks.
'We are talking about officers who had a sworn obligation to protect these minors and instead became a catalyst for violence for their entertainment,' Mr. Tooson said in an interview on Tuesday. He called the criminal charges a 'step toward accountability.'
'There is a long process that has to happen of completely revamping the L.A. County Probation Department,' he said.
The department, which is responsible for supervising young people at Los Padrinos, said in a statement that the officers charged in the indictment had been placed on unpaid leave. It said that it had 'sought the assistance of law enforcement authorities when misconduct was discovered,' which eventually led to the attorney general's investigation.
'While these incidents are deeply troubling, we believe this marks an important step toward rebuilding trust and reinforcing our commitment to the meaningful changes we are proposing in our juvenile facilities,' the Probation Department said. 'Our vision for them is one that prioritizes rehabilitation, support, and positive outcomes for justice-involved youth, as well as upholding the highest standards of professionalism and integrity for our staff.'
Stacy Ford, the president of AFSCME Local 685, which represents deputy probation officers in Los Angeles County, including 29 of those charged in the indictment, emphasized in a statement that the people charged have not been found guilty.
'Our members are entitled to this same presumption of innocence and deserve to be treated with fairness and due process, just as they provide to those in their custody,' he said. 'We do not condone any unlawful behavior, and we will do everything in our power to support our members as they navigate this difficult situation.'
Probation officers in Los Angeles County, he added, have been 'working under extremely difficult conditions' with 'understaffed and ill-equipped facilities that house individuals accused of murder, sexual assault, terrorism and other serious crimes.'
He added that the officers remained 'committed to maintaining the highest level of professionalism while upholding their sworn duties.'
The indictment came amid broader concerns about the conditions at Los Padrinos, which currently houses about 250 young people.
In December, the California Board of State and Community Corrections said its inspections at the facility had found young people spending 'inordinate amounts of time' confined in rooms without access to programs, recreation or outdoor exercise.
Teens there had also been forced to urinate in receptacles, and there were urine- and feces-soaked towels on the floors of their rooms because there were no staff members available to escort them to the bathroom safely, the board said.
Mr. Bonta said he had been working to address what he called illegal and unsafe conditions at juvenile halls in the county, including Los Padrinos. Last fall, he said, a judgment in a civil suit against the county had required additional monitoring and changes to policy, staffing and training.
Young people who enter the justice system should have the opportunity to be rehabilitated, Mr. Bonta said. 'That's hardly possible,' he said, 'if they endure abuse and trauma in the system, especially at the hands of those who are charged with their care.'