An LA County domestic worker became pregnant after abusing the youth, the statement said
At least two teenage boys were abused by women who worked at a home in Chatsworth earlier this year, leading to one of the women becoming pregnant, according to a public petition filed this week.
Another worker at the facility, known as Rancho San Antonio, abused a 15-year-old boy for five months at the Chatsworth facility and at the victim’s home while his mother was away, attorney Jamal Tooson said at a press conference Thursday, according to court filings.
At least one other boy has been abused at the facility recently, according to the notice of claim, which is a preliminary to the lawsuit.
“This behavior was not an isolated incident, but was part of a broader pattern of inappropriate and abusive relationships between staff and children at Rancho San Antonio,” the lawsuit reads. “Other incidents of misconduct at the facility include an employee who became pregnant with a child while at Rancho San Antonio.”
The victims in both cases are under the age of 16, and the workers are in their late 20s or early 30s, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified to discuss the ongoing investigation.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said a criminal investigation has been launched. The Department was notified of the alleged abuse on May 4.
Rancho San Antonio has had a contract with the county Department of Probation since 2008 to house youth coming out of juvenile halls. Vicky Waters, spokeswoman for the LA County Probation Department, said the agency has stopped all referrals to the facility.
“The individuals connected to these allegations were contractors, not employees of the Department of Testing, and are no longer employed by the agency,” Waters said in a statement. “The Department will continue to cooperate fully with external law enforcement investigations.”
Tooson said the 15-year-old’s mother took him to Rancho San Antonio for mental health treatment. He was allowed to go home on weekends, according to Tooson, and the suspect “sneak” into the family’s residence during one of those visits. The victim’s sister, 12, was also home at the time, Tooson said.
“He was violated by the system that was designed to protect him,” Tooson said.
The second victim is not represented by Tooson, and the attorney would not say how she learned of the pregnancy described in the lawsuit. In a statement, the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office said it is looking into “allegations of sexual abuse of our clients.”
“These allegations, if true, demonstrate a serious and ongoing failure to protect young people under the Department of Probation and underscore the urgent need for change to ensure that young people do not continue to be at risk,” the statement said.
The lawsuit names the probation department and the LA County Department of Children and Families as defendants.
A spokeswoman for Child and Family Services said the agency currently has no foster children in Rancho San Antonio and does not believe any youth in care have been affected. A spokesperson said the department was “deeply concerned” by the allegations.
Rancho San Antonio is “a multi-service nonprofit organization that provides traditional and non-traditional healing services to youth and families,” according to its website.
“We are a mission-driven community and have provided quality services for decades,” the website reads.
Calls to the center seeking comment were not returned Thursday.
Rancho San Antonio is home to the “Short Residential Treatment Program,” where youth who have completed their time in LA County’s juvenile halls are housed in what is often referred to as a “step-down” facility before being released into the community. Although a change in state law encouraged the use of such programs in 2017, concerns have been raised that the programs are overcrowded and sometimes dangerous.
