The Antelope Valley Times

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L.A. County supervisors working to reduce sexual assaults of jail inmates

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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to more aggressively pursue compliance with a 2003 federal law aimed at reducing sexual assaults of jail inmates and juvenile probationers.

In the wake of reported assaults of female inmates at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood and girls at Camp Scudder in Santa Clarita, Supervisor Janice Hahn recommended setting up two dedicated units — one for the Sheriff’s Department and one for the Probation Department — to ensure compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

“While we work to transform our criminal justice system … some kind of recourse when it comes to sexual abuse is critically important,” Hahn said.

Despite a requirement for audits every three years, “none of our facilities have undergone an audit,” she said.

Compliance with PREA’s 48 standards is complex and funded is limited, according to Karen Dalton of the sheriff’s custody services division. Those standards include barring cross-gender strip searches and a method for reporting abuse to an outside, independent entity.

“PREA is an unfunded mandate, so it’s a very difficult provision to put in place,” Dalton told the board.

It requires a number of administrative changes to the booking process and rethinking the way that inmates are housed, Dalton said.

The Sheriff’s Department successfully applied for federal grant money in 2015 and has been working with Just Detention International, a nonprofit organization seeking to end sexual abuse in detention, to institute some changes.

The department is working to make sure that potential victims and perpetrators aren’t housed together, adding training for sexual assault investigators and staff, and coordinating closely with medical and mental health personnel on prevention and treatment.

A free rape crisis line is available to CRDC inmates and instructions for how to report assault are set out on posters throughout the jail.

However, 10-15 percent of the complaints coming in to the Citizens Oversight Commission are related to sexual assaults, COC Executive Director Brian Williams told the board.

CRDC Deputy Giancarlo Scotti was arrested in September on suspicion of raping two female inmates and has been placed on administrative leave. Sheriff’s investigators have submitted a case involving three alleged victims of Scotti to the District Attorney’s Office for review, but no charges have yet been filed, according to a D.A’s spokesman.

A federal civil rights lawsuit has also been filed against Scotti alleging assaults, including a plaintiff who was pregnant at the time, the Los Angeles Times reported.

At a news conference to announce Scotti’s arrest, Sheriff Jim McDonnell declined to discuss any prior disciplinary action against the deputy. However, the lawsuit alleges that Scotti had been put on probation for some offense prior to the assaults and that the women who complained suffered retaliation, the Times reported.

The Probation Department also has some work to do. A probation officer was sentenced in September to one year in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of assaulting inmates at a Santa Clarita juvenile hall. The original six charges against Oscar Calderon included allegations involving four victims from 15 to 18 years old.

“Had we requested an audit, we would not be in compliance,” Assistant Chief Probation Officer Sheila Mitchell told the board.

Mitchell said renovations were underway to retrofit restrooms as safe spaces, among other efforts.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who co-authored the motion, asked both departments to look for funding sources.

Dalton said she couldn’t offer a reliable, on-the-spot estimate of the cost of complete compliance, but both departments were directed to develop a budget.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said the issue had not received enough attention.

“The history of this has been that it’s been undervalued, not taken seriously, underreported,” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said, pointing out that nearly a decade passed after PREA became law before federal standards were developed.

“This is a priority,” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said. “You have a board up here who is united and committed to getting this done.”

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25 comments for "L.A. County supervisors working to reduce sexual assaults of jail inmates"

  1. … I think we’ll probably need to go back to the good old days, lacing inmate diets, preferably with a somewhat more effective anaphrodisiac, than institutional saltpeter. I believe it’s the Japanese who’ve developed have a highly effective, cutting edge antiandrogen so potent, male inmates still can’t have sex two months ex post release.

    • You probably would have been in the front lines during the pearl gabor kamakaze days. Leave our balls alone. In fact you take some of that anaphedeezywutever.

  2. … the number 1 problem in America: bad government. At every level, from city, to county, to state, to our Federal government, corruption is rampant, and unchecked. Faith in government here in America a thing of the past, nowhere is graft and corruption more unabashedly evidenced, than America’s prison system, where we encharge the fox the task, of running the hen house –

  3. I just did 30 days in LA county jail… and the worst part is the other inmates… I seriously have to go into “survival mode” just to get through it, there are so many predators, especially among the whites. At wayside there is one deputy watching 400 inmates and he (or she) barely pays attention, so the inmates make the rules… I could write a book about how screwed up LA county jail is… and how to survive it….

      • Depends on how hungry you are. If you’re used to caviar and cote de beoufs then it would probably be a negative star rating.

          • Alby. Miss Lonelyhearts is desperate for friends and agreement here on the AVTimes. How ridiculous. How absurd. How je ne sais quoi. How like her.

            Do you come here looking for friends? I certainly don’t as you can see from some of my caustic comments/replies.

            I come here looking for the weak and infirm (read hypocrites and liars) and then I attack like a big cat. The only difference is I eat the brains first as little appetizers. Very little. I leave enough for them to be able to type but little else.

            Now, she might reply with one of her anti-funny comments.. I love her replies. They are reflexive and given little thought. I don’t take her seriously. I wonder about people who do like her bud, Glenn. He seems to be backing away. He must know that if he missteps, she’ll go after him too. The Valley Scold never rests.

            Well, I feel like I’m being too kind. I guess I’m getting old…………again.

    • Forget about TV.. it goes off every 15 minutes because deputies have to walk through and make sure you have not been beaten unconscious (or dead) and your body has not been stuffed under a bunk… after the walkthrough they turn the TV back on…

  4. I just did 30 days in LA county jail… and the worst part is the other inmates… I seriously have to go into “survival mode” just to get through it, there are so many predators, especially among the whites. At wayside there is one deputy watching 400 inmates and he (or she) barely pays attention, so the inmates make the rules… I could write a book about how screwed up LA county jail is… and how to survive it…

  5. They need to bring more undercover f.b.i. agents into the county jail to make sure they’re doing their job right. These filthy cavity searchin violators need to feel like they are being watched by the man. I need to feel safe before I turn myself in. They like to mix the petty timers with the big timers and that’s how problems evolve. The last thing I need is to graduate from blue clothing to orange clothing if you know what I mean. Anybody has a breaking point. Not everyone bows down out of fear of bodily harm. Some go bat$|-|!T crazy and end up with additional charges. I’d hate to do either or.

    • totally right, i was doing 30 days with people doing 5 years and they feel like they have nothing to lose… like I said… I could write a book about the hell of LA county jail and how to survive it.

  7. Corrections Officers; keep your filthy paws off the female inmates. Sexual assaults that have been going on for too many years with no consequences. I know, I’ve been there. If a woman reports a sexual assault, she is going to pay the price. Nothing is going to change. Grant money wasted. The whole system is corrupted.

  8. Let’s also focus on man on man rapes. Dudes can’t even “snitch ” on fear of death by other inmates. Disease is probably spread like wild fire.