30 officers accused of facilitating 'gladiator fights' among minors at L.A.-area juvenile hall
California's attorney general on Monday announced the unsealing of an indictment charging 30 detention officers assigned to a Los Angeles-area juvenile hall with child abuse for allegedly allowing and sometimes encouraging so-called gladiator fights among youths.
California's attorney general on Monday announced the unsealing of an indictment charging 30 detention officers assigned to a Los Angeles-area juvenile hall with child abuse for allegedly allowing and sometimes encouraging so-called gladiator fights among youths.
At the heart of the grand jury indictment is the allegation that officers stood by as children and teenagers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall engaged in the fights, the attorney general's office said in a statement. The detention center is in Downey, about 13 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
The office of Attorney General Rob Bonta said there were at least 69 fights in the second half of 2023, with 143 children and teens between 12 and 18 years old involved. Some fights, Bonta's office said, resulted in physical injury.
Officers, Bonta said in the statement, were allegedly “overseeing ‘gladiator fights’ when they should have intervened."
The defendants took advantage of the vulnerability of the victims and their own position of trust, his office said.
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