Agreement may resolve legal proceedings moved by thousands of people who claimed to have been mistreated and sexually abused in homes and youth detention centers
Los Angeles County has reached a $ 4 billion agreement (3.65 billion euros) to resolve nearly 7,000 complaints of sexual abuse in youth institutions since 1959, authorities announced.
The agreement, which will still have to be approved by the Los Angeles County Supervisors Council, may be the largest of the genre and have long -term financial effects for the county, the same sources said.
“In the name of the county, I apologize with all my heart to all who have been harmed by these convict acts,” said Fesia Davenport, head of the County Executive, in a statement.
The agreement may resolve legal proceedings moved by thousands of people who claimed to have been mistreated and sexually abused in homes and youth detention centers in Los Angeles County.
The complainants were able to initiate proceedings thanks to a California law that came into force in 2020 and suspended the three -year prescription period for child sexual abuse victims to open processes.
Many of the claims involved the Maclaren Children’s Center, which ended in 2003.
If the Los Angeles County agreement exceeds the 2022 agreement of the Boy Scouts of America, worth $ 2.6 billion (2.37 billion euros), in which more than 80,000 men who said they were molested in children by scout and others. At the time, it was considered the largest joint sexual abuse agreement in US history.
Last year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $ 800 million to the clergy’s victims of sexual abuse, increasing the total payment of the Catholic Archdiocese, which covers the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles, to over $ 1.5 billion.
The BOYS Scouts of America and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreements are, to date, the two largest collective agreements achieved with victims of sexual abuse in the United States.
The agreement now reached includes the creation of a support line throughout Los Angeles County to denounce alleged sexual abuse to children by county employees and the development of a system to streamline investigations, said County officials.
“By balancing justice to the victims with the commitment to reform, this resolution guarantees both the recognition of past errors and a way to a safer and more responsible future,” said Patrick McNicholas, one of the complainants’ lawyers in a statement.
The Council of County Complaints will consider the proposed agreement on Monday. If approved, it will be considered by the Supervisors Council on April 29.
