In another black eye for the troubled Los Angeles County Probation Department, a probation officer has been accused of having sex with a minor in custody at the Dorothy Kirby Center in Commerce.
The female officer, who has not been identified, was charged with arranging a meeting with the minor for a lewd purpose, sex with an inmate, bringing contraband into a jail and unauthorized possession of a cellphone in a secured area.
The Probation Department’s Juvenile Safety and Welfare Task Force, formed in February to combat the spread of drugs and other contraband, will forward the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office once the investigation is complete, according to the department.
Investigators discovered the relationship while investigating a phone recovered from a youth at the facility on March 7, according to a statement from the department. The Dorothy Kirby Center is a co-ed facility that houses “adjudicated youth with mental health issues,” according to the Probation Department.
“Information supported by a warrant led investigators to communications between the detained youth and Probation Officer,” the statement reads. “Some of these communications appeared to have occurred while the employee was at work and there were photos that are sexual in nature.”
The employee allegedly gave statements during interviews with investigators that confirmed the conversations were with her. Investigators found a cellphone, which is not permitted inside the facility, and a prescription pill container “with different types of pills in varying quantities” in her possession.
The department declined to comment further on the incident as it is “an ongoing investigation involving an employee and a minor.”
First arrest by task force
It is the first arrest — at least made publicly — by the Juvenile Safety and Welfare Task Force.
Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa formed the task force in February to investigate and prosecute drug traffickers within the juvenile justice system. Last year, Los Angeles County’s juvenile facilities experienced at least half a dozen overdoses, including the death of an 18-year-old in custody at the Barry J. Nidorf Secure Youth Treatment Facility in Sylmar.
A report from the Office of Inspector General found that drugs, fentanyl in particular, had spread throughout the facilities due to lax security. Since then, the department has increased the frequency of room searches and intensified its security checkpoints. It planned to install airport-style scanners at its largest juvenile hall, Los Padrinos in Downey, in early 2024.
Latest setback
The arrest marks the latest stain on the embattled Probation Department, which has been under fire from the state for its substandard operation of juvenile facilities.
Last year, the state shut down two of the county’s juvenile halls over deplorable conditions, forcing the department’s leadership to scramble to reopen Los Padrinos to house the hundreds of youth impacted by the decision.
Now, Los Padrinos and the SYTF at Barry J. Nidorf, could suffer the same fate. Probation officials have until April to bring both locations back into compliance with the state’s minimum standards, or those facilities will be emptied, too.
Rumors of employees bringing drugs into the facilities have circulated for months.
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Last year, the department arrested Nicholas Ibarra, 22, a youth who was in custody at the SYTF, for drug possession following a series of overdoses. Two officers assigned to transport Ibarra later alleged he gave up the name of an officer who had been supplying fentanyl to youths at Barry J. Nidorf, but that they were placed on leave for trying to investigate, according to their attorney, Tom Yu.
In September, the Office of Inspector General reported that security at Barry J. Nidorf allowed a staff member to bring food in without scanning the container, which the Probation Department “later believed introduced contraband into the facility.”
The department has declined to comment on those incidents.
Los Angeles County is already facing hundreds of lawsuits from former juvenile detainees who alleged they experienced sexual abuse within the juvenile halls dating back to 1972. Los Angeles County CEO Fesia Davenport estimated the county could be forced to pay $1.6 billion to $3 billion for “more than 3,000 claims alleging childhood sexual assault at various County and non-County facilities,” according to a 2023 budget.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis called on the department to “thoroughly investigate this incident and discipline all, including staff who continue to harm our youth.”
“The County of Los Angeles is contending with lawsuits from the past about allegations of sexual trauma in our facilities and yet, there continues to be a disturbing pattern of staff, who are in roles to protect, preying on those that need guidance and protection,” Solis said in a statement.
“I applaud Probation leadership for taking swift action against the staff, however, there needs to be a clear message of zero tolerance policy on any forms of abuse and swift consequences that follow to eradicate the culture that enables these crimes to occur.”