Los Angeles County has reached a $4 billion 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 in history 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.
A group of plaintiffs’ attorneys said they filed a lawsuit against the county in 2022 on behalf of more than 1,200 people who alleged they were mistreated and sexually abused in juvenile facilities. The plaintiffs were able to sue because of a California law that took effect in 2020 and suspended for three years the statute of limitations for childhood sex abuse victims to bring cases.
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.
“This landmark settlement represents restorative justice for victims,” Patrick McNicholas, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “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.”
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.
The agreement by Los Angeles County is considered one of the largest settlements in U.S. history involving sexual abuse allegations going back decades and surpasses the Boy Scouts of America’s 2022 settlement for $2.6 billion with more than 80,000 men who said they were molested as children by Scout leaders and others.
Last year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $800 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse, bringing the total payout to more than $1.5 billion.
Disclosure of the massive 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 $49 billion 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 while it also deals with an ongoing homeless crisis.
Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport recently said the county is facing a “large amount of uncertainty” with its budget — some agencies are largely funded by federal dollars.
The county’s claims board will consider the proposed settlement Monday. If approved, it would be considered by the board of supervisors April 29.
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Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California.
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