At least 20 L.A. County probation officers face criminal indictments after an investigation by the California Attorney General’s office into their work with youth in the county’s beleaguered juvenile halls, two law enforcement sources told The Times on Friday.
The union representing rank-and-file probation officers confirmed in a statement that several of its members “have received notices from the California Department of Justice (DOJ) requiring them to appear in criminal court.”
Defense attorney Tom Yu also said Friday he is representing a supervisor in the probation department who had been named in an indictment.
“My understanding is he is a co-defendant in the multiple-defendant indictment concerning some incidents that happened in Los Padrinos,” Yu said.
It was not clear what charges are being sought. Indictments are sealed until defendants make their first appearances in court.
The California Department of Justice announced in April that it was launching an investigation into fights between youths at Los Padrinos. The announcement came after The Times published a video that showed several probation officers standing by watching a teen get beaten by other detainees inside Los Padrinos.
The video showed a group of youths attacking the 17-year-old victim one at a time, charging him with punches and kicks while officers watched, laughed, and at some points shook hands with the assailants.
The 17-year-old suffered a broken nose, “internal injuries, severe bruising, and moderate traumatic brain injury,” according to a notice of claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, that he filed last year.
Two sources told The Times on Friday that the indictments stem from the investigation into the Los Padrinos fight video. Those sources spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the details of a criminal investigation candidly.
The victim in the Los Padrinos incident was interviewed by investigators from the state attorney general’s office within the past few months, according to two other sources with direct knowledge of the interview who also requested anonymity to discuss the matter.
In the civil claim, the teen alleged the officers involved in the incident “organized and encouraged a series of brutal fights and assaults.”
L.A. County public defender Sherrie Albin, who represented the victim in his criminal case, said in court last year that probation department supervisor Taneha Brooks “instigated” the fights by telling the other teens the 17-year-old victim was a racist based on his gang affiliations and where he lives. All of the assailants were Black, and the 17-year-old is Latino.
“Every American is innocent until proven guilty,” Stacy Ford, president of the probation officer’s union, said in a statement. “Our members deserve to be treated with fairness and due process, just as they provide to those in their custody. 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.”
Vicky Waters, the probation department’s communications director, referred all questions to the attorney general’s office, which said it would not confirm or deny anything about “a potential or ongoing investigation.”
“For our part, we placed several officers on leave as a result of troubling incidents and allegations at Los Padrinos. We have and will continue to work and cooperate with our law enforcement partners,” Waters said. “Accountability is a cornerstone of our mission, and we have zero tolerance for misconduct of any peace officers.”
The probation department suspended 14 officers in relation to the Los Padrinos fight footage, according to Waters.
News of the indictments is the latest in a raft of controversies for the probation department.
Late last year, California’s Bureau of State and Community Corrections ordered Los Padrinos shuttered after investigators found the hall was routinely understaffed and incapable of safely housing youths.
Similar rulings from the BSCC previously led to the shutdown of Central Juvenile Hall and Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar in 2023. Los Padrinos had been closed in 2019 following excessive force allegations against officers. But it was reopened to house youths from Central and Nidorf.
The probation department has faced a staffing crisis for years, creating chaotic conditions in the county’s juvenile halls that have led to violence and unrest. Many probation officers have said it is unsafe for them to go to work, while juvenile justice advocates often describe the halls as wildly mismanaged facilities where youth are constantly in danger.
Los Padrinos has been troubled almost since the day it reopened in July 2023. The facility was home to a riot and an escape attempt within its first month of operation, and a probation department supervisor was caught bringing a gun into the hall, which is illegal.
The BSCC deemed Los Padrinos “unsuitable” to house youth in February 2024, just nine months after it reopened. Two months later, the fight video surfaced.
The probation department has ignored the BSCC’s order to close Los Padrinos, and its refusal has been supported by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. The BSCC has not said what, if any, steps it can or will take to enforce the shutdown order. A spokeswoman for Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta previously declined to say if he would take action to support the BSCC.
“These indictments are disturbing. The young people in our juvenile facilities are not only in our custody, they are in our care,” Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement. “It breaks my heart that probation officers the County entrusted with this responsibility would use their power to abuse these kids. This is only further proof that the culture of our probation department needs to change dramatically.”
Times Staff Writer Rebecca Ellis contributed to this report.
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