A half-teen teenager-bending probation officer caught on camera, who was charged with excessive force after the Times released footage of the case, but a plea deal provided by LA County prosecutors on Friday. Do not receive prison time based on conditions.
Oscar Cross, 61, must not qualify for one misdemeanor assault dispute and complete 250 hours of community service and 30 in-person anger management classes, according to conditions set by the LA County Deputy Director. It must be. Atty. Ryan Dibble. If he adheres to the terms of the transaction, the case will be dismissed in one year.
After it was published by Times on a 2020 violent incident within Camp Kill Patrick in Malibu, Cross was charged with assault by a civil servant in 2023. The boy was identified as Beckham.
Beckham previously told the Times that he was hungry and had been looking for food in a common area, but all he found was a milk carton. He threw the container, causing discussion with the officers.
In the video, four police officers are seen grabbing the boy and holding him down on the bed. Place your knees on his back and hold your teenager in place. As Beckham appears to be calm, about a minute after the conflict, cross the 120-pound teenage feet and bend the legs towards the head. You can hear Beckham scream “Mama!”
“I think what’s going on is unfair. …It’s over too quickly,” Beckham said Friday in downtown LA courtroom. “Everything that has been done to me hurt me quite a bit and I’m scared to go out. Considering what happened, I’m making my safety anxious, so I’m so worried about my safety, Family members must always be accompanied by them.”
Cross, a supervisor on duty during the incident, was originally charged with felony assault and faced up to three years in state prison. If he was found guilty of a felony, he would not have been able to serve as a law enforcement officer. Defence counsel Tom Yu said Cross is employed in the probation department but would not comment on the client’s current situation or whether he plans to return to work.
Cross has been on holiday since October 2023, according to Vicky Waters, communications director for the probation department. She did not comment on the plea agreement.
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Dibble said the lack of injuries Beckham suffered played a role in the plea bargain. However, Beckham argued in court Friday morning that the x-rays showed damage to the disk on his back. The Times previously reviewed record showing that Beckham was not seriously injured in the incident.
“I’m happy [Cross] I get a fire at the end of the case… my client has been serving the county in honor for over 30 years,” Yu said.
Yu said he believes Cross used reasonable force in the case, but the footage plagued several probation officers. Cross’s actions were called “child abuse.” According to a 2021 Times review document, the department’s review board said Cross should be fired.
However, Adolfo Gonzalez, his then-resident, protected the supervisor from firing and refused to hand over footage of the case to the prosecutor for review.
More than a year later, the Times obtained footage from a probation officer who spoke on condition of anonymity in fear of retaliation from Gonzalez. LA County prosecutors are now aware of the incident only after 2023 reports. Gonzalez was fired by the LA County Board of Supervisors weeks after The Times released the video.
The prosecutor did not require Cross to abandon his recognition as a peace officer based on the terms of the transaction.
Cross’Conditional Plea includes 250 hours of community service and 30 sessions of anger management. He will return to court in February 2026 to determine whether he has met those conditions.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
Dibble and Alan Jochelson, who are the head of the unit indicting police officers in the District Attorney’s Office, declined to comment outside of court. The District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
LA County Superior Court Judge Armenui Ashvanian has ordered the Cross to be returned to Beckham, and a hearing to determine the amount will take place later this year. Beckham’s family also filed civil suits against the department and the cross.
Outside the court, Yu scoffed at the idea that the victim in this case was a “choir boy”, frequently fought probation officers, and was due to violent sexual offences at the time of the incident. He said he was detained. Law enforcement sources previously told The Times that Beckham was in custody for sexual battery.
“He’s not an innocent child, nothing more than a victim of child abuse,” Yu said.
However, supporters of the boy’s justice were furious at the terms of the deal.
“Looking at this, I wonder what happened to all the other executives who couldn’t protect this young man, and how this outcome will change the culture within many of our juvenile facilities. I can’t help but think about it,” the county probation monitoring board said. “I think it’s safe to assume everything remains the same.”
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