A prominent law firm suing LA County for childhood sexual abuse is pushing for federal investigations into how so many children have been hurt by government watches.
The county agreed to a $4 billion settlement in April, resolving about 7,000 cases of sexual abuse within the county juvenile detention facility and raising a decades-old home.
But attorney John Manley, who has filed around 200 cases against the county, said despite the eye-opening amounts, there is no clear picture of who is responsible for ramp-prolonged abuse yet. No one has been criminally charged since the incident began.
“This is essentially Epstein Island is overseen by Los Angeles County probation officers,” Manley said. He mentioned Jeffrey Epstein, the infamous investor who died of suicide while awaiting trial for sexual personnel charges. “It’s shocking, there’s no anger. There’s no zero. “Oh, yeah, we’ll just get $4 billion in public funds and it’ll get so restless.” No, I want an answer. ”
Manly served as the lead lawyer for victims abused by US gymnastics doctor Larry Nasser and former USC gynaecologist George Tyndal. His company, Manly, Stewart & Finaldy, is one of several companies that are not part of the LA County settlement. The first trial in his case is scheduled to begin this month.
In a letter to Atty. Bill Essayli of Manly writes that the U.S. attorney’s office hopes to “instantly investigate” federal crimes committed by staff within the LA County Probation Department and take responsibility for overseeing the juvenile facility where many of the alleged abuse occurred.
“The sad and incredible truth is that these camps were sexual predatory nests that LA County probation officers who helped these children get back on track, turned them into human adult toys,” said Aug. 4. “Leadly, the lack of interest in prosecuting people who are literally engaged in a massive sexually saved human trafficking business of politics, corruption, malignant indifference towards children.”
The US Lawyer’s Office declined to comment.
The flood of lawsuits against the county is rooted in a change in state law known as AB 218, which gave victims of childhood sexual abuse a new window into sue abusers. Since then, the county, along with many school districts, has been flooded with lawsuits dating back to the 1950s.
The county spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The county says it has taken many steps in recent years to prevent abuse, including strengthening reviews of foster parents and probation staff and abolishing the use of group homes where some alleged abuse occurred.
County officials say it’s nearly impossible to protect yourself from these incidents as many records were destroyed long ago. It was equally difficult to prosecute these cases. Because many victims who were children at the time of the abuse never knew the first name of the abuser. The perpetrator is usually identified in the lawsuit as several variations of John Doe, with little detail being identified.
Since the flooding of the lawsuit began, county officials have only introduced two cases to the District Attorney’s Office for an investigation. Thomas Jackson, a probation supervisor investigated for having sex with a minor at a camp in 2006, was a former probation officer accused of two or more women who abused them when they volunteered. Jackson resigned in 2023 with the county 30 years later.
According to a memo from the DA’s office, the cases against both were outside the law of restrictions, according to a memo explaining the decision not to be prosecuted.
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