L.A. County Approves $4 Billion Sex Abuse Settlement, Largest Such Payout in U.S. History

Los Angeles County will pay out $4 billion in settlements to victims of sexual abuse at its juvenile facilities after the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved what will be the largest such payout in U.S. history.

The victims were children housed in county-run juvenile detention centers and foster homes dating back to 1959. Nearly 7,000 claims are involved, with the bulk coming from the 1980s to the 2000s, and thousands from the now-closed MacLaren Children’s Center in El Monte where staffers were accused of drugging and molesting children in their care for years.

The cash-strapped county, still reeling from the January wildfires blamed in part on budget constraints and resource mismanagement, says it will drain its rainy day fund and take out 25-year bonds to cover the disbursement, which is expected to be completed in five years, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“I never would have imagined persons hired to be the safety net and care for the most vulnerable could or would abuse their position and power in this way,” Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors chair Kathryn Barger said. “It angers and sickens me.”

The settlement, reached April 4, is based on the thousands of claims that county government officials failed to screen for predators across its network of facilities and foster homes, and did little to punish known perpetrators of abuse. It is by far the largest such single settlement in U.S. history, dwarfing The Boy Scouts of America settlement of $2.46 billion.

“We are going to be paying hundreds of millions of dollars that could be invested into the communities, into parks, libraries, beaches, public social services, until 2050,” L.A. County chief executive Fesia Davenport said.

The county is also contending with a two-day strike by more than 50,000 county workers unhappy with grinding contract negotiation. Davenport said those talks would be impacted by the settlement, $2 billion in estimated wildfire costs and federal funding under threat from the Trump administration.

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