30 officers from the Los Angeles County Probation Department investigated allegations among teenagers in the county’s juvenile hall and encouraged the allegations they allowed (in some cases encouraged).
Judge Yvette Verastegui told 30 probation officials that the charges included 69 counts of child abuse, one conspiracy crime and one misdemeanor crime. Staff were ordered to appear again on April 18.
The indictment was the result of the California Department of Justice’s investigation on Monday afternoon Security video released by The Times Last year, eight probation officers stood as a group of teenagers attacked a 17-year-old Los Padrinos teenager hall in Donny. The teenager had a broken nose and a “brain injury” according to a civil lawsuit filed last year. The details of the criminal case are The Times reported for the first time last month.
California. General Rob Bonta said at a press conference on Monday that the case involved 69 “gladiator battles” in Los Angeles’ teenage hall.
The videotape released last year showed the 17-year-old punched a series of attacks by young men, who once attacked him in the “day room” of Los Padrinos. In more than once, the victim fell to the ground and the officers barely stopped the violence. At one point in the video, a female probation officer broke off the road while a youth accused the victim and offered a run.
The official was identified as Taneha Brooks in court last year. The victim’s public defense lawyer said she “incited” the fight by telling the 17-year-old attacker was racist and rival gang members. At some point in the video, Brooks can be seen checking her watch, as if it will be timed every time the fight is concerned.
Another official – identified as Shawn Smyles in court last year – shook hands with one of the attackers in the video, while 17-year-old 17-year-old wrinkled down another part of the room.
Brooks and Smith declined to comment on Monday.
Brooks said in a written report on the incident that the 17-year-old attacker had an interactive battle with his attacker, and each battle stopped verbal warnings.
Dozens of current and former probation officials could be seen milling around the 13th floor of the Crime Court Building in downtown Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, many of whom are still unsure what or why they are accused of.
Retired officials also appeared with support from the support defendants, deeming their colleagues as victims of a long-term inadequate and artificially mismanaged institution, which put them in an impossible job.
The December 2023 incident raised questions about whether officers are tolerant of violence and the effectiveness of reports on combat and other uses of force by probation officers in the hall.
A supervisor reviews Brooks’ notes on the battle incident captured in the video at a court hearing He never questioned her account Or review the footage before entering the report into the court file.
The prosecution is the latest in a series of disputes surrounding the probation department.
The California Commission’s correction order Los Padrinos closed in the second half of last year after repeated failed inspections and was considered “inappropriate” to accommodate youth. Most teenagers who were imprisoned in Los Angeles County live in Los Drinos because the board previously closed two other teenage halls in the county – Barry J. Nidorf in Sylmar and Central teenage halls in Los Angeles – As violence and instability in the hall increases The staffing crisis has intensified.
The probation department rejects the state’s order to close Los Padrinos, State Council members said they did not know what legal recourse they had to enforce. The California Attorney General’s Office has previously refused to address the issue.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza It is unsafe for young people, weighing the requirements of the Los Angeles County Public Defense Office to evacuate all its clients from Los Padrinos, according to the board’s findings.
“The probation system and its basic culture are undermined,” Los Angeles County public defense lawyer Ricardo Garcia said in a statement Monday. “The responsibility system for those who fail to protect our young people has been long overdue — in a system of young people who violate their entrusted care, there is no justice.”
