California Juvenile Hall Abuse Claims

In California, juvenile detention centers are designed to safely hold juveniles while their cases are pending and protect both them and the public. While the goal of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate troubled youth, many young offenders undergo abuse and neglect within juvenile detention centers.

Following the passage of California AB 218 in 2020, the statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault and abuse claims was greatly expanded. As a result, thousands of Californians who were abused as children when they were detained in the state’s juvenile detention centers have filed civil sexual assault lawsuits. It is an unfortunate reality that many people have been the victims of sexual assault by guards, staff, and other juveniles while being held in detention centers.

If you suffered sexual abuse as a child inmate of one of the state’s juvenile detention facilities, you may have legal rights to pursue justice by filing a sexual assault lawsuit. Even if your abuse occurred years ago, you might be entitled to compensation. In addition, a sexual abuse lawsuit might help you hold all of those who were responsible for what happened to you accountable for their actions. The compassionate attorneys at the law firm of Steven M. Sweat, Personal Injury Lawyers, APC, are currently reviewing cases and are ready to pursue justice on your behalf.

Problem of Sexual Abuse in California Juvenile Detention Facilities

Sexual abuse within juvenile detention facilities has been a widely known problem for years. A study by the US Bureau of Justice Statistics on allegations of sexual abuse in US juvenile detention centers found that more than 9,400 allegations of sexual victimization were made in the five years from 2007 to 2012 alone. While these issues exist in every state, California’s juvenile detention facilities have been especially plagued by sexual abuse of child inmates, both by staff and other juveniles.

Before 2023, the California Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), an agency within the California Department of Corrections, was responsible for educating and incarcerating minors who were adjudicated for alleged criminal offenses. This subdivision was formerly known as the California Youth Authority (CYA). Many juvenile residential substance abuse facilities, detention centers, and conservation camps were operated by the DJJ, while local jurisdictions operated juvenile halls that held inmates for shorter periods.

Over the years, these facilities and the DJJ were widely known to subject child inmates to physical abuse. In addition, many staff members engaged in the sexual victimization of the children in their care. In other cases, staff members looked the other way when juvenile-on-juvenile sexual assaults and physical abuse occurred and did nothing to stop it. This culture of abuse persisted for decades, with the DJJ and state failing to stop it. Many victims suffered abuse following acts of force, coercion, duress, threats, and intimidation by others.

Reform Efforts

The juvenile detention facilities in California became notorious for rampant abuse nationwide during the 1990s. The Division of Juvenile Justice faced numerous lawsuits in the early 2000s for violating juvenile inmates’ rights. These lawsuits resulted in settlements that included mandates for reform.

In 2020, the California Legislature passed SB 823, which Gov. Gavin Newsom subsequently signed into law. This bill abolished the DJJ and mandated the closure of all state-run juvenile detention facilities by June 2023. Since that time, individual counties have been responsible for juvenile correctional activities and must place minors in the least restrictive appropriate environment. The law now focuses on community-based rehabilitation for juveniles.

Landmark LA County Settlement and What it Might Mean for Litigants in Other Counties

In April 2025, Los Angeles County announced it had reached a settlement agreement with more than 6,800 plaintiffs to resolve their sexual abuse lawsuits for $4 billion. This settlement covered child sexual assault claims for abuse that occurred in detention centers within the county from 1959 forward. This settlement included survivors who had filed claims beyond the expiration of the statute of limitations. Litigants filing claims in other California counties for sexual assault while they were housed in juvenile detention facilities might expect potential settlements to follow the same framework as what happened in Los Angeles County.

At the law firm of Steven M. Sweat, Personal Injury Lawyers, APC, we are currently accepting cases for child sexual abuse victims at juvenile detention facilities outside of Los Angeles and across the state. Even if your abuse happened years ago, you might still be entitled to compensation. Contact us today to learn more about your potential claim.

Sexual Abuse Lawsuits for Abuse Occurring in Juvenile Detention Centers

The culture of sexual and physical abuse within California’s juvenile detention centers was systemic. Even though the DJJ and the state were legally obligated to keep child inmates in their custody safe, they failed to uphold their duty. Because of this failure, the conditions that allowed the sexual abuse of child inmates persisted for years.

Plaintiffs across the state who were victimized as child inmates in California’s former juvenile detention facilities are filing civil sexual abuse lawsuits to seek justice and hold all of those responsible accountable for their actions. These lawsuits allege that the state and DJJ failed to properly supervise and train staff and contributed to the environment that enabled the sexual abuse of minors by staff and other juvenile inmates.

Thousands of victims across California may be entitled to file lawsuits against the state, DJJ, and individual perpetrators because of the institutional neglect and widespread pattern of abuse within juvenile detention facilities. These lawsuits help to expose the institutional negligence and systemic problems that placed thousands of children in danger over decades.

Child Sexual Abuse Statute of Limitations

All states have laws called statutes of limitations that set deadlines for filing different types of legal claims. Before 2020, child sexual abuse survivors generally had to file lawsuits before they turned 26 to recover compensation. However, AB 218 extended the limitation period for survivors until they turned 40 or within five years of recognizing that their abuse led to their trauma and other injuries.

In 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 452 into law. This bill eliminated the statute of limitations for child sexual assault that occurs in 2024 or later. This means that children who suffer abuse today can file lawsuits even if they don’t come forward for decades. However, survivors who suffered abuse in juvenile detention facilities still fall under the older framework.

Even if your sexual abuse in a juvenile detention facility happened outside of the statute of limitations period, it might still be possible to pursue compensation. Since Los Angeles County’s settlement opened the settlement to all survivors going back to 1959, other counties might also choose to do so. Even if you think your case is outside of the deadline, it’s a good idea to speak with one of our experienced civil sexual abuse lawyers about your options to pursue compensation.

Potential Defendants in a Juvenile Detention Center Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

Since child sexual abuse in California’s juvenile detention facilities was a pervasive and systemic problem for decades that continued without intervention, multiple parties might be liable beyond the individual perpetrator. As a survivor, you might be able to file a claim against multiple parties, including the following:

• Individual perpetrator – The person or persons who sexually abused you (counselors, educators, guards, etc.)
• Supervisors and staff members – The people who failed to intervene to stop you from being abused or to monitor others to prevent abuse from happening
• The California Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) – The former division of the CDOC for its failure to appropriately enforce safety policies, oversee staffing decisions, or investigate and address reported abuse
• California Youth Authority (CYA) – The agency that failed to address the problem of abuse by its staff

Many juveniles who were held in detention facilities were victimized. The parties that might be liable in your case depend on the circumstances of what happened. When government entities are named as defendants, additional procedures apply, making it important to talk to our attorneys as soon as possible.

What if the Perpetrator Was a Fellow Child Inmate?

If your abuser was another juvenile housed in the same facility, you might still pursue a claim. The juvenile detention facility owed you a legal duty to keep you safe while you were in its care. If the facility and its staff failed to properly monitor you and other inmates to prevent abuse, you might still be entitled to compensation. Since juvenile detention facilities failed to prevent foreseeable sexual and physical abuse that occurred, they created an unreasonably dangerous environment and could be held liable.

How Much Is a Juvenile Detention Sexual Abuse Claim Worth?

How much your claim might be worth depends on the circumstances of what occurred. Some of the important factors that can influence the value of your claim include the following:

• The strength of your evidence, including your testimony, medical records, eyewitnesses, and incident reports
• Multiple victims showing a pattern of abuse and procedural negligence
• Record of poor training and supervision
• Inadequate/improper staff background checks
• Documented failure of the facility to respond to sexual abuse reports
• Severity of the abuse
• Consequences of abuse you suffered, including psychological trauma and mental health diagnoses, including major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and/or any physical scarring or disfigurement
• Duration of the sexual abuse, with repeated or long-term abuse often leading to larger settlements
• Your age at the time you were abused
• The attorney you choose

When you decide to pursue a juvenile detention center sexual abuse claim in California, it’s critical to choose an attorney with extensive experience handling these types of cases. Your lawyer should have experience handling cases involving abuse that occurred in schools, churches, detention facilities, and other institutions, because they will have strong knowledge about the legal and procedural issues that might arise in complex cases. Retaining an experienced attorney can encourage the defense team to offer a more favorable settlement. When your attorney has a reputation for winning cases, defense lawyers may want to avoid risking a loss at trial.

An attorney can’t guarantee an outcome or a settlement amount. However, given that the settlement in Los Angeles County totaled $4 billion, average settlements could be more than six figures. Once again, any settlement you might receive will depend on the factors described above. If your abuse was severe and repeated or was covered up and ignored, a potential settlement could be substantial.

Will Your Case Go to Trial?

The vast majority of cases are settled outside of court, but it is still possible that your claim might go to trial. Generally, institutional sexual abuse lawsuits filed against governmental entities are settled outside of court. This is because the state and its agencies don’t want to be involved in a public trial that exposes widespread abuse and retaliation.

However, if the government refuses to fairly settle your claim, your lawyer might advise you to go to trial. If you go to trial, your attorney will spend a significant amount of time helping you prepare and will explain everything so that you know what to expect. If you win at trial, a jury verdict could be significantly higher than a settlement offer. However, going to trial does involve risks of losing, so your lawyer will explain the pros and cons to you before you decide.

Unique Challenges with Juvenile Detention Center Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

When you file a juvenile detention center lawsuit, you will be filing a claim against a government-run facility. This can make it more difficult than other childhood sexual abuse lawsuits. However, recent laws passed by the state have made it easier for survivors of juvenile detention center sexual abuse to file claims and pursue justice. It’s still challenging to investigate these cases and prove institutional negligence, including cover-ups, screening failures, and other issues.

The attorneys at the law firm of Steven M. Sweat, Personal Injury Lawyers, APC, understand the unique challenges and complexities involved with juvenile detention facility civil sexual abuse lawsuits. We know how to investigate these claims and can explain the merits of your case and your legal options.

How a Lawyer Can Help

If you were sexually abused while being held in a California juvenile detention facility, you should speak to an attorney as soon as possible. Even though the deadline for filing a lawsuit was extended, critical evidence can be lost as time passes. If you wait too long to file a claim, your case could become weaker. Our lawyers can investigate your case, gather crucial evidence, and help you determine whether your claim is viable. Our goal is to hold all of those who are responsible for childhood sexual abuse accountable and prevent similar abuse from happening to others in the future.

Our civil sexual abuse attorneys can help in all of the following ways:

• Determine the deadline to file a claim
• Investigate your case and explain its legal merits
• Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your claim
• Uncover and gather critical evidence to strengthen your claim
• Negotiate with the defense lawyers to secure a favorable settlement
• Advocate for you in court
• Litigate to recover fair compensation when necessary

Do I Qualify for a Juvenile Detention Center Sex Abuse Settlement?

The best way to determine whether you might qualify for a settlement for sexual abuse while an inmate in a juvenile detention facility in California is to talk to a knowledgeable attorney. We can review what happened to you, investigate the circumstances, and explain whether you might be entitled to compensation.

If the following apply, you might have a viable sexual abuse claim:

• A counselor, guard, educator, nurse, or fellow inmate sexually assaulted you.
• The assault happened while you were housed in a California juvenile detention facility.

Since a juvenile detention center sexual abuse lawsuit is a civil action, it goes through civil court instead of criminal court. This means that the burden of proof is lower than what is required in criminal matters. For example, a criminal prosecutor must prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but civil plaintiffs must prove their claims by a preponderance of the evidence. This is a much lower standard and requires you to present evidence proving that your claims more likely than not occurred.

The burden of proof in civil claims is lower because they involve monetary damages rather than the defendant’s potential loss of liberty. This means that you can still pursue a claim even if your abuser was never convicted or criminally charged for what they did to you.

Recoverable Damages in Juvenile Detention Center Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

The damages that might be available to you depend on the particular facts and circumstances of your case. Civil sexual abuse lawsuits seek monetary damages to help victims recover for both their economic and noneconomic losses. These amounts are called compensatory damages and include the following types:

• Past and future medical bills related to physical injuries resulting from sexual abuse
• Past and future costs of psychological therapy to recover from psychological trauma
• Physical pain and suffering
• Emotional trauma
• Physical scarring and disfigurement
• Loss of the ability to enjoy life
• Lost career opportunities caused by setbacks from trauma
• Ongoing costs associated with long-term eeffects of truama
• Other damages

In addition to compensatory damages, you might be entitled to punitive damages. These are monetary amounts that can be awarded by juries in cases involving especially egregious actions. When punitive damages are awarded, they are paid on top of the compensatory damages award. If your case involves severe abuse, retaliation, or a pattern of cover-ups by the facility, punitive damages might be at issue. If the defense lawyer believes that a jury might award punitive damages to you, your potential settlement could be signicantly higher than it might be otherwise.

While compensation can never erase the abuse you suffered and its effects on you, it can give you some resources you can use to start fresh and work toward a better future. Our attorneys can investigate your case and properly value it. They can explain the types of damages that might be available to you in your case.

Get Help from Our Knowledgeable, Caring Sexual Abuse Lawyers

At the law firm of Steven M. Sweat, Personal Injury Lawyers, APC, our attorneys know that no amount of compensation will erase the effects of the sexual abuse you suffered while housed in a juvenile detention facility in California. However, we strongly believe that the perpetrators who committed abuse and the institutions that allowed it to happen should be held publicly accountable for their misconduct.

If you or your loved one suffered sexual abuse as a child inmate in a juvenile detention facility, we are prepared to fight for justice for you. We know how hard it is for you to come forward and recognize the courage of your decision. Our team is compassionate and can provide you with the support you need at every step. We are strong legal advocates and will thoroughly investigate your case. If we agree to accept your case, we will thoroughly investigate and fight to recover maximum compensation for you.

We work on a contingent-fee basis. This means that you won’t have to pay anything until and unless we recover compensation for you. To learn more about your rights and the viability of your claim, call the Steven M. Sweat, Personal Injury Lawyers, APC, today to schedule a free consultation at 1-866-966-5240.