Los Angeles County will pay $2.7M to teen boy attacked in ‘gladiator fights’ at detention facility

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County on Monday agreed to pay $2.7 million to a teenager who was attacked by at least six other young people at a juvenile detention center in so-called “gladiator fights” that were allegedly facilitated by probation officers.

The boy’s beating in 2023 at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall was captured on surveillance video that also showed several officials standing idly by and some of them shaking hands with the participants in the beating.

A state grand jury in March charged 30 correctional officers for their role in allowing and sometimes encouraging nearly 70 fights to take place between July and December 2023. The officers face charges including child endangerment and abuse, conspiracy, and battery.

More than 140 victims between the ages of 12 and 18 were involved, according to authorities.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said after the charges were announced that it seemed the attacks were planned.

“They often wanted them to happen at the beginning of the day, in a certain time, in a certain place. A space and a time was created for the fights, and the plan was for the fights to happen,” he said.

The investigation began after the Los Angeles Times first obtained and published video footage that shows a then-16-year-old being attacked by at least six other young people, who came at him one by one as officers stand by watching.

The video was first made public during a court hearing during which a public defender for the boy, now 17, argued to a judge that he was not safe at Los Padrinos and should be released ahead of his trial.

His attorney, Jamal Tooson, said the settlement was a “first step” in recognizing the “egregious” conduct of the LA County Probation Department.

“Our priority needs to be not just protecting my client but all children in similar circumstances under the care and watch of the probation department,” Tooson said. “There were lawsuits prior to this. I personally represent several individuals who’ve been harmed at the same facility after this.”

According to a correction action plan written by the department, staff failed to review CCTV footage of the facility, delayed taking the teen to the hospital, and waited too long to notify his parents. To address these issues, the department will ensure CCTV monitors are “staffed routinely” and conduct random footage audits, and develop a protocol for making sure young people in custody are given medical care and their parents are informed appropriately.

A judge ruled in April that the LA County Probation Department could not continue housing juveniles at Los Padrinos and approved a plan in May to move more than 100 youths out of the facility. California’s state board overseeing local correctional facilities has previously ordered Los Padrinos to be shut down.

Tooson believes there is a pervasive “culture problem” extending throughout the probation department’s facilities that cannot be addressed by the correction action plan. He has filed at least 19 lawsuits in federal court alleging issues from physical violence allowed by officials to sexual assault by staff members in LA County’s youth detention centers, he said.

“Until we actively start changing the mindset and behavior of those who are put into a caretaking responsibility of these youth, I think we’re going to find ourselves in the same situation,” he said.