30 officers charged with allowing ‘gladiator fights’ at US youth detention centre
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Michael Levenson
LOS ANGELES - Thirty officers who worked in a youth detention centre in Los Angeles County have been charged with allowing – and in some cases, encouraging – gladiator-style fights among the teenagers being held there, California’s attorney-general said on Mar 3.
A grand jury indictment charged the detention services officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, California, with child endangerment and abuse, conspiracy and battery, Attorney-General Rob Bonta said.
Mr Bonta said 69 fights took place in Los Padrinos from July 1 to Dec 31, 2023. The indictment, he said, stemmed from an investigation opened by the California Department of Justice, after video footage of one of the “gladiator fights” leaked in January 2024.
The footage – published by the Los Angeles Times in April 2024 – shows several officers standing by and at least one appearing to encourage young people as they take turns beating a teenager inside a room at Los Padrinos.
One of the officers appears to smile at points as she presides over the fights, and another shakes hands with one of the teens, moments after he knocks down the teenager who was being attacked and kicks him on the floor.
Investigators later learned that the fight was “not a one-off, isolated incident”, and that officers at Los Padrinos had allowed or encouraged fights involving 143 young people between ages 12 and 18, Mr Bonta said. He called it a “deeply disturbing case of child abuse and endangerment”.
Mr Jamal Tooson, a lawyer, represents two of the teenagers involved in the fights. Both clients are suing the county over the attacks.
“We are talking about officers who had a sworn obligation to protect these minors and instead became a catalyst for violence for their entertainment,” Mr Tooson said. He called the criminal charges a “step towards accountability”.
“There is a long process that has to happen of completely revamping the LA County Probation Department,” he said.
The department, which is responsible for supervising young people at Los Padrinos, said that the officers had been placed on unpaid leave. NYTIMES