Los Angeles County will pay $2.7 million to a teenager whose assault at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall led to the discovery of a series of “gladiator-style” fights and the indictment of 30 probation employees.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors authorized the settlement Tuesday, June 3, without discussion, in response to a claim filed by the mother of the teenager, Jose Rivas Barillas. A claim typically is a precursor to a lawsuit.

Related Articles

San Jose approves $620,000 settlement for 2020 George Floyd protest injuries

Security guard shoots man in self-defense after suspect stabs 2 SoCal Metro guards

Beloved Oakland teacher killed by driver after CHP terminated pursuit, officials say

Driver held after killing pedestrian in Oakland; CHP had terminated ground pursuit minutes earlier

Did prison kitchen job enable ‘Devil of the Ozarks’ escape?

Surveillance footage of the December 2023 attack on Barillas, who was 16 at the time, sparked a criminal investigation by the California Department of Justice that culminated in the indictments earlier this year. Prosecutors allege the 30 employees — ranging from detention service officers to at least one supervisor — allowed or even encouraged 69 fights, including gladiator-style fight clubs involving multiple youth, over a roughly six-month period in 2023.

The initial recording, obtained by the L.A. Times, showed a series of youth entering a day room at Los Padrinos and attacking Barillas, one after another, while officers stood by, or half-halfheartedly intervened. Some could be seen laughing, or even shaking hands with the attackers.

Barillas’ attorney, Jamaal Tooson, said it is rare for Los Angeles County to settle a claim before a lawsuit is filed. His other cases, including one in which a youth suffered a brain injury from three attacks in a single day, have been forced into litigation, he said.

“In many ways, it speaks to the fact that the video went viral and they wanted it to go away,” Tooson said in a phone interview.

If that video hadn’t leaked, Tooson suspects he would be going to court in this case as well.

“There were several lawsuits that preceded it and I’ve ultimately filed several after alleging a similar sort of conduct,” he said. “I believe there is a systemic problem within the culture of the Los Angeles County Probation Department.”

A case summary provided to the supervisors indicates that CCTV “corroborates” that a deputy probation officer, listed as DPO One in the summary and identified as Taneeha Brooks in the claim, “orchestrated, provoked and encouraged a physical assault on plaintiff by the other juvenile detainees.” The indictment in March alleged Brooks and officer Shawn Smyles allowed five fights, involving up to nine combatants, 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.”

Both have been charged with child abuse and conspiracy. Smyles also was charged with battery for a separate unlawful use of force in October 2023.

The claim alleges Brooks demanded to know Barillas’ gang affiliation upon his arrival at Los Padrinos and did not accept his response that he was not in a gang. She accused him of being a member of a specific gang and commented that she “hoped he could fight,” according to the filing.

Brooks later directed multiple juvenile detainees to attack Barillas. She and other officers did nothing while he was “repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped,” the claim states.

“On the video, DPO One appears to be organizing the timing of the attacks while her colleagues looked on,” the summary states. “At no point did anyone attempt to stop the attacks outright or render aid to Plaintiff.”

The summary states probation employees disregarded “the law, their duties and Probation Department policies” and later failed to review the closed-circuit TV footage after the incident was reported. The department delayed transporting Barillas, who suffered a broken nose, to the hospital and did not promptly notify his family of the injuries.

In response, the Probation Department says it is now “routinely” monitoring CCTV and will review recordings whenever a use of force or physical intervention report is filed. The department is developing a process for “random footage audits.”

Tooson, however, isn’t optimistic. Los Angeles County has promised reforms for years now and yet is still a “catalyst of violence” to the juveniles in its custody, he said.

“This does not mean their behavior is going to change,” he said.

Roughly a year after the attack on Barillas, state regulators ordered Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall to close after it repeatedly failed inspections, largely due to short staffing. The county refused to comply and the facility remains open to this day.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in May ruled that Los Padrinos can continue to operate, for now, but the Probation Department must cut the population at the juvenile hall by sending more than 100 youth to other facilities.

That plan is now underway and will result in a major shuffling of juveniles and staff across the county’s footprint. Critics are skeptical, believing the same staffing problems will continue — and may even get worse — as a result of spreading out the department’s resources. Los Padrinos, which reopened in the summer of 2023 following the forced closure of two other juvenile halls, originally was supposed consolidate the department’s limited staffing at one location.

The county will next update the court on the status of the depopulation in July.