By Michael R. Blood and Amy Taxin, Associated Press
LOS Angeles (AP) – The County of Los Angeles has entered into an agreement of $ 4 billion to settle nearly 7,000 sexual abuse complaints in minor facilities since 1959, officials announced on Friday.
The agreement, which still needs approval from the County Supervisors Council of Los Angeles, far exceeds a regulation of $ 2.6 billion reached in 2022 with Boy Scouts of America which was the greatest regulation of the overall sexual abuse in American history at the time.
“On behalf of the county, I apologize wholeheartedly to all those who were injured by these reprehensible acts,” said Fesia Davenport, director general of the county, in a statement.
The agreement would pay the proceedings brought by thousands of people who have alleged that they had been abused and sexually abused in minor reception and detention centers in the County of Los Angeles. The complainants were able to continue due to a Californian law which entered into force in 2020 and suspended the limitation period so that the victims of sexual abuse of childhood carry business for three years.
Many claims involved the Maclaren Children’s Center, which was closed in 2003. The establishment, which was to be a safe space for children waiting for placement in reception homes, opened its doors in 1961 and was supervised by probation officials until it was placed under the Department of Children and Family Services of the Comté in 1976.
A man said he was sexually abused by a doctor at the establishment at the age of 8, while another said that he had been attacked by a male staff member in a bathroom at the age of 5. Children were regularly placed in the event of isolation, drugged and retained in chairs of the establishment, according to court documents deposited by the complainants.
“It is soft to be soft for the survivors, because nothing will ever go to them, and how much their life has been changed and how much they suffered,” said Adam Slater, one of the lawyers of the complainants. “However, the regulations give them, let us hope, a certain justice and give them a certain closure.”
Other private and public entities have been shaken by allegations of large -scale abuses and subsequent colonies.
Boy Scouts of America’s 2022 regulations, who recently renamed Scouting America, involved more than 80,000 men who declared that he had been attacked as a child by leaders and others.
And last year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $ 800 million to victims of sexual abuse of the clergy, bringing total payment to more than $ 1.5 billion.
The disclosure of massive provisional payment by the County of Los Angeles occurs at a time when the largest county in the country – which houses around 10 million residents – is faced with a tightening of financial obligations on its annual budget of $ 49 billion. Officials fear hundreds of millions of dollars for public services could disappear in the Trump administration reductions, while the county has experienced additional costs compared to the historic forest fires in January, as it also deals with an ongoing homeless crisis.
Davenport recently declared that the county was faced with a “large quantity of uncertainty” with his budget – certain agencies are largely funded by federal dollars.
The proposed agreement includes the creation of a hotline on a county scale to report allegations of sexual abuse of children against employees and the development of a system to accelerate surveys, officials said.
“By balancing justice for the victims with a commitment to the reform, this resolution guarantees both the recognition of past wrongs and a path to a safer and more responsible future,” said Patrick McNicholas, one of the complainants’ lawyers.
The Comté complaints council will examine the proposed settlement on Monday. If it is approved, it would be examined by the board of directors of April 29.
___
Taxin reported to Santa Ana, California. The writer Associated Press Olga R. Rodríguez in San Francisco contributed.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
