Los Angeles [US], June 17: Nearly 600 people had joined in a series of lawsuits alleging that they were sexually abused and harassed while in custody at Los Angeles County's juvenile facilities, the Los Angeles Daily News reported Thursday.
Attorney Doug Rochen, who filed lawsuits on behalf of the former detainees, was quoted by the report as saying that the current situation was "like an avalanche."
"The reality is that we probably don't even know today how many people were really affected," Rochen said.
The suits against the county and more than 200 unnamed officers alleged children, as young as 12 years old at the time, were assaulted at Camp Kilpatrick, Central Juvenile Hall, Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall, and Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall during the 20-year period.
Los Angeles County gave officers "uncontrolled and unsupervised intimate access" to the minors so that the victims were assaulted in their cells, in showers, and in common areas.
For decades, Los Angeles County failed to protect the youth from staff, failed to provide an adequate amount of staff and training to supervise the facilities, and failed to properly investigate allegations of abuse, the lawsuit stated, noting the incidents were not unique to a single facility and reveal a "systemic failure to protect vulnerable minors."
Source: Xinhua