LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles County-run shelter meant to be a safe space for children as they awaited placement in foster homes was for decades a den for sexual predators among the staff — and some residents — who preyed on children as young as 5, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by dozens of former residents.
Some of the more than 30 plaintiffs spoke at a news conference and wept and trembled as they detailed abuse and some victims’ attempts to escape the hall’s barbed-wire fences and guarded gates. Among the victims was a 6-year-old boy who in 1990 was molested by a male staffer who locked the boy in a closet as punishment for screaming during the assault, according to the lawsuit.
Jonathan Wright, 39, held up the T-shirt he was given when he first went to MacLaren Children’s Center in El Monte as an 8-year-old. He said he was sexually abused by a physician there.
“To this day, I hate being near doctors,” he said, sobbing.
Staff members often turned a blind eye to the assaults and misconduct at the facility, where children were routinely placed in solitary confinement, drugged and restrained in chairs, the lawsuit said.
(Editor’s note: This story includes discussion of sexual violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.)
The Associated Press does not typically name victims of sexual assault unless they give their permission.
Octavia Evans said she was 12 when she was abused. She summoned the courage to report it to staff and said they took it to their boss — who was her abuser.
Now 36, Evans addressed any former MacLaren staff members who may have watched the news conference: “We were children, and we were trusting you to care for us — not hurt us.”
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages. It’s the second to be brought recently against the county in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of…
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