A lawsuit filed by over 130 former detainees from San Bernardino County juvenile detention facilities alleges widespread sexual abuse by staff, including rape, sodomy, and groping, over nearly 30 years. The lawsuit claims a systemic culture of abuse was allowed to flourish, with supervisors ignoring complaints and concealing misconduct. This is the second lawsuit filed in the past month against the county, and the plaintiffs are seeking major reforms. The lawsuit is part of a growing trend of allegations of widespread sexual abuse in Southern California juvenile detention facilities, with thousands of claims dating back decades. Survivors and advocates are calling for a full investigation and demanding that lawmakers reject any effort to weaken rights granted to survivors.
More than 130 former detainees from San Bernardino County juvenile detention facilities have filed a lawsuit alleging they were sexually abused while in custody as part of a systemic culture allowed to flourish for nearly 30 years.
The lawsuit, filed May 15 in San Bernardino Superior Court, details dozens of allegations of rape, sodomy, groping and other forcible acts of molestation against 136 plaintiffs, both males and females, from 1996 through 2024. Midway during that period, the county's central juvenile hall in San Bernardino was substantially remodeled and reopened in June 2011 as the Central Valley Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center.
It is the second lawsuit to be filed in the past month against the county alleging rampant sexual abuse in juvenile detention facilities. A lawsuit on behalf of 10 former San Bernardino Juvenile Hall detainees who allege they were sexually abused by staff more than 20 years ago. It names the county and up to 100 unnamed adult guards, counselors and supervisors as defendants.
The plaintiffs in the latest suit, mostly now in their 30s, allege the abuse occurred at San Bernardino Juvenile Hall/Central Valley Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center, the San Bernardino Youth Justice Center, and the High Desert Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center in Apple Valley. Attorney Doug Rochen, who represents the plaintiffs, said he plans to file a second lawsuit against the county soon on behalf of another 139 clients alleging they also were sexually abused in San Bernardino County juvenile detention facilities.
He said the number of plaintiffs shows that the problem is systemic, cultural and longstanding, and he is hopeful the litigation will prompt the county to implement major reforms. When you have hundreds of people, it's no longer about the bad apples, it's about the bad farmers who allowed those apples to grow on their trees, said Rochen, with the law firm DiCello Levitt. San Bernardino County spokesperson Janelle Needham said the county does not comment on active litigation.
Rochen filed another lawsuit with similar allegations against Riverside County in October 2025 on behalf of six former detainees claiming that, from 2000 to 2012, they were sexually abused at juvenile detention facilities in Riverside, Murrieta and Indio. The Riverside County Probation Department, which oversees operations and staffing at the county's juvenile detention facilities, declined to comment. As this case moves through the legal process, we are limited on the information we can provide.
The safety, security, and dignity of youth in our care remain a top priority, said Kevin Slusarski, spokesperson for the Riverside County Probation Department, in an email. The Probation Department takes any allegations of harm towards youth in our care seriously and is committed to maintaining an accountable environment of high professional standards for all employees. The lawsuits emerge amid mounting scrutiny of Southern California juvenile detention facilities over allegations of widespread sexual abuse by staff.
Most of the allegations surfaced after a change in state law in 2020 that dramatically expanded rights for child sex abuse victims to sue. California law allows survivors to file civil suits until age 40, or within five years of discovering psychological harm caused by the abuse.
Lawmakers further expanded the law with Assembly Bill 452, which eliminates the statute of limitations for childhood sexual assaults that occurred on or after Jan. 1, 2024, allowing survivors to sue alleged abusers and institutions at any time. Involving thousands of claims of sexual abuse in juvenile halls and foster care facilities dating back decades.
On Friday, May 29, sexual abuse survivors and survivor advocates gathered outside Assemblymember Tina McKinnor's district office in Los Angeles to protest efforts backed by Los Angeles County officials to roll back survivor rights in the wake of the 6,800 alleged sexual abuse cases tied to L.A. County juvenile detention facilities.
They called on McKinnor and other state legislators to reject any effort to weaken rights granted to survivors and instead demand a full investigation into decades of alleged sexual abuse at L.A. County juvenile detention facilities. In the most recent suit against San Bernardino County, the plaintiffs claim they were coerced through threats, intimidation and abuse of authority, while supervisors ignored complaints, concealed misconduct and failed to enforce safeguards designed to prevent abuse.
The complaint further alleges officials violated state and federal laws, enabling a culture in which sexual assaults and retaliation occurred with impunity against vulnerable youths in county custody
San Bernardino County Juvenile Detention Facilities Sexual Abuse Systemic Culture Lawsuit Reforms Survivors Advocates Child Sex Abuse Victims Assembly Bill 452 Statute Of Limitations
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