30 LA County probation employees indicted for allegedly staging ‘gladiator fights’ at juvenile hall

A Los Angeles County grand jury indictment unsealed Monday revealed 30 Probation Department employees, ranging from detention service officers to at least one supervisor, have been charged with allowing — and even encouraging — 69 fights, including “gladiator”-style fight clubs involving multiple youth, at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.

The indictment stems from a California Department of Justice investigation that began after a video was leaked depicting one of the “gladiator fights.” The charges include 69 counts of child abuse, one count of conspiracy to commit a crime and one count of battery. The fights, which occurred from June to December 2023, involved 143 victims ranging in age from 12 to 18, according to the DOJ.

The indictment asks for harsher punishments because the victims were “particularly vulnerable” and the accused took advantage of “a position of trust or confidence to commit the offense.”

A recording of the first-known incident in December 2023, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, showed multiple youth attacking a 17-year-old, one at a time, as each entered a dayroom at Los Padrinos. At least four officers stood by during the assaults, while two others halfheartedly attempted to break it up. Some could be seen laughing and even shaking hands with the attackers.

As investigators uncovered more fights, they found “striking similarities” between the leaked footage and other incidents, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who said the officers “looked more like referees or audience members at a prize fight, not adults charged with the care or supervision of young people.”

“Officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall have a duty to ensure the safety and well-being of those under their care. Instead, the officers charged today did just the opposite — overseeing ‘gladiator fights’ when they should have intervened,” Bonta said in a statement. “The indictment — and the filing of criminal charges — is an important step toward holding these officers accountable and addressing shortfalls at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.

“Let today’s charges be a warning for all those who abuse their power: the California Department of Justice is watching, and we will hold you accountable.”

Bonta alleged officers engaged in a criminal conspiracy by setting up the fights in advance.

“We believe this was planned, it was intended, there was a desire on the part of the juvenile probation officers for these fights to occur,” he said during a news conference. “They often wanted them to happen at the beginning of the day, at a certain time, a certain place.”

Last year, after the first footage became public, Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa placed 14 officers on leave and referred the incident to the Department of Justice to investigate. In a statement, probation officials applauded the indictment and indicated that all of the officers named have been placed on unpaid leave.

“Accountability is a cornerstone of our mission, and we have zero tolerance for misconduct of any peace officers, especially those dealing with young people in our system,” the statement reads. “While these incidents are deeply troubling, we believe this marks an important step toward rebuilding trust and reinforcing our commitment to the meaningful changes we are proposing in our juvenile facilities.”

The indictment alleges two officers in particular, Shawn Smyles and Taneha Brooks, allowed up to nine combatants to engage in fights that occurred at least five times over the six-month period. The pair allegedly told new officers about fights in advance and warned them “not to say anything, write down anything and just watch when youth fights occurred,” the indictment states.

In December 2023, Smyles, Brooks and another officer, Nancy Sostre, allowed one youth to participate in “eight one-on-one fights” that led to him sustaining a broken nose, according to the indictment. Smyles allegedly told the youth involved to “refuse treatment” from the facility’s nurses.

That month, Smyles gave a “briefing” to new detention service officers and told them the fights were “how they operated and controlled the youths and the unit,” the court filing states.

Smyles also is accused of a misdemeanor count of battery for a willful and unlawful use of force against a youth in October 2023.

The series of fights described in the indictment mention only Smyles, Brooks and Sostre by name. It is unclear how the other 27 employees were involved.

All 30 defendants appeared in court Monday afternoon for arraignment. Eight, however, had their arraignments rescheduled because they did not have legal representation. None of those who appeared was required to post bail.

Attorney Tom Yu, who is representing Ramses Patron, a director at Los Padrinos, accused Bonta of bringing the charges for political gain and to further efforts to shut down Los Padrinos. Patron served as a supervisor at the Downey detention center in the same way a watch commander oversees shifts at a police department, Yu said. The director was not present for any of the fights, he said.

“I’m deeply concerned about the overreach of this prosecution,” Yu said following the hearing.

State regulators have been attempting to shut down Los Padrinos for months. The facility was declared “unsuitable” due to a severe staffing shortage and ordered to close by the Board of State and Community Corrections last year, but the probation department refused to comply once the deadline hit.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza has been weighing what should happen to Los Padrinos since December. Espinoza, who expressed concerns about creating more chaos if he forces Los Padrinos to close, has delayed a decision three times so far. The question of Los Padrinos’ future, raised in a juvenile murder case, will come before Espinoza again in April.

The Board of Supervisors declared a “local emergency” in December and maintained that emptying Los Padrinos would put communities in “extreme peril.” Viera Rosa, the probation chief, unveiled his “global plan” for the county’s juvenile facilities in February, but the proposal, pitched during a Board of Supervisors’ meeting, was met with sharp criticism.

In a statement, Supervisor Janice Hahn pointed to the indictments as “further proof that the culture in our probation department needs to change dramatically.”

“The young people in Los Padrinos are not only in our custody, they are in our care,” she said. “It is unacceptable that probation officers who were entrusted with this responsibility would use their power to abuse these kids.”