Los Angeles agrees $4bn deal to settle thousands of sexual abuse claims

The Guardian

04-04-2025

Los Angeles county has reached a $4bn agreement to settle nearly 7,000 claims of sexual abuse in juvenile facilities since 1959, officials said Friday.
The agreement, which still needs approval from the Los Angeles county board of supervisors, would be the largest of its kind and have long-lasting financial effects for the county, officials said.
'On behalf of the county, I apologize wholeheartedly to everyone who was harmed by these reprehensible acts,' Fesia Davenport, the county's chief executive, said in a statement.
The agreement would settle lawsuits filed by thousands of people who alleged they were mistreated and sexually abused in foster care and juvenile detention facilities in Los Angeles county. The plaintiffs 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.
Many of the claims involved the MacLaren children's center, which was closed in 2003. The facility, which was intended to be a safe space for children awaiting placement in foster homes, opened in 1961 and was overseen by probation officials until it was placed under the county's department of children and family services in 1976.
One man said he was sexually abused by a physician at the facility when he was eight years old, while another said he was assaulted by a male staff member in a bathroom when he was five. Children were routinely placed in solitary confinement, drugged and restrained in chairs at the facility, according to court papers filed by plaintiffs.
'It is bittersweet for the survivors, because nothing is ever going to take away what was done to them, and how badly their lives were altered and how much they have suffered,' said Adam Slater, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys. 'However, the settlement hopefully gives them some measure of justice and provides them with some measure of closure.'
The agreement by Los Angeles county would surpass the Boy Scouts of America's 2022 settlement for $2.6bn with more than 80,000 men who said they were molested as children by Scout leaders and others. At the time, that was considered the largest aggregate sexual abuse settlement in US history.
Last year, the archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $800m to victims of clergy sexual abuse, bringing the total payout to more than $1.5bn.
Disclosure of the tentative payout comes at a time when the nation's largest county – home to about 10 million residents – is facing a tightening bind of financial obligations on its $49bn annual budget. County officials fear hundreds of millions of dollars for public services could vanish in Trump administration cutbacks, while the county has seen additional costs from January's historic wildfires as it also deals with an ongoing homeless crisis.
Davenport recently said the county is facing a 'large amount of uncertainty' with its budget – some agencies are largely funded by federal dollars.
The proposed agreement includes creating a countywide hotline for reporting child sexual abuse allegations against county employees and developing a system to expedite investigations, county officials said.
'By balancing justice for the victims with a commitment to reform, this resolution ensures both acknowledgment of past wrongs and a pathway to a safer, more accountable future,' Patrick McNicholas, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, said in a statement.
The county's claims board will consider the proposed settlement on Monday. If approved, it would be considered by the board of supervisors on 29 April.