Thirty probation officers have been charged with allowing — and even encouraging — scores of “gladiator fights” at a California juvenile detention center involving at least 143 young inmates.
The charges, unsealed Monday, follow a more than yearlong investigation into the troubled Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles County sparked by a video showing multiple officers doing nothing as a group of teens pummeled a 17-year-old inmate, breaking his nose and leaving him with head trauma.
“Some officers are even seen laughing, and shaking hands with the young people involved,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters Monday, according to KTLA.
“Watching the video, the officers look more like referees or audience members at a prize fight not adults charged with the care and supervision of young people. The officers don’t step in or intervene and don’t protect their charges,” he said.
The filmed fight — first published by the Los Angeles Times in January 2024 — was one of at least 69 “gladiator fights” at the detention hall between July and December 2023, Bonta said.
In the video, one of the 30 officers, identified as Taneha Brooks, appears to move out of the way as one teen charges at the victim and kicks him. Brooks can be seen checking her watch — seemingly to time each fight, the LA paper said.
Another officer, Shawn Smyles, shakes hands with one of the teen’s attackers as he helplessly tries to defend himself from a hail of fists in another part of the room, the video shows.
In her written report on the incident, Brooks said the victim and the assailants were in a mutual fight that ended when she told them to stop.
The 30 were charged with child endangerment and abuse, conspiracy and battery. The first 22 were arraigned Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, with the other eight scheduled for April 18.
All of them have been placed on leave without pay during an internal investigation by the LA County Probation Department.
“Accountability is a cornerstone of our mission, and we have zero tolerance for misconduct of any peace officers, especially those dealing with young people in our system,” the department said in a statement.
California’s Board of State and Community Corrections ordered Los Padrinos — which hosts a majority of LA County’s juvenile delinquents — to shut down last year and it repeatedly failed inspections and was declared unsafe, but the probation office refused, according to the LA Times.
The board had previously closed two other juvenile detention centers due to surging violence and a staffing crisis. An LA County superior court judge is considering the county public defender’s office’s request to remove all its clients from the facility over safety concerns.
Bonta called the indictment “an important step toward holding these officers accountable and addressing shortfalls at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.
“Let today’s charges be a warning for all those who abuse their power: the California Department of Justice is watching, and we will hold you accountable.”