Central Juvenile Hall (Los Angeles) Abuse Claims

Central Juvenile Hall, at 1605 Eastlake Avenue in Los Angeles, was Los Angeles County’s first and oldest juvenile hall, in operation for more than a century. It was emptied in July 2023 after the state found it unsuitable to house youth, and the county has since used the site for juvenile court health services and as an emergency location.

What the record shows

• State findings. The Board of State and Community Corrections found Central unsuitable in June 2022, citing failures in safety checks, medical examinations, and documentation of psychotropic medication, and again on May 23, 2023, together with Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall. On July 12 and 13, 2023, the county moved the 173 youth held at Central to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey.
• The Attorney General’s judgment. Central was one of the two halls covered by the January 2021 judgment obtained by the California Attorney General after a civil rights investigation into conditions in the county’s juvenile halls, which required reforms in use of force, room confinement, staffing, health care, education, and grievance handling.
• Abuse allegations. Civil lawsuits have named a former Central officer who retired after the suits were filed and who denies the allegations, and former detainees of Central were among the 279 plaintiffs who sued the county in December 2022 over sexual abuse by staff in county halls and camps going back to the 1970s. Thousands of such claims were resolved in the county’s $4 billion settlement approved in April 2025 and the $828 million settlement approved in October 2025.

A closed facility does not close a claim

The county remains responsible for what happened at Central. Its personnel files, incident reports, and grievance logs, and the records of the state inspections and the Attorney General’s monitor, can all be obtained in a lawsuit, and the deadlines below are measured from the abuse and from the survivor’s age, not from the date a building closed.

Why the county is responsible

The county is responsible for what its officers did and for what its supervisors failed to do: ignoring complaints, leaving kids alone with staff who should have been watched, moving accused officers from one facility to another, or not reporting abuse. You do not have to file a government claim first. If you are 40 or older and the abuse happened before 2024, a 2026 law also requires stronger proof against a county: clear and convincing evidence that the county actually knew of the misconduct and failed to act. More on juvenile detention claims.

Is it too late?

Probably not. If the abuse happened before 2024, you can usually file until you turn 40, or within a few years of realizing as an adult that the abuse caused harm you are living with now (that window is five years today; a law signed in 2026 shortens it to three years starting January 1, 2027). If the abuse happened on or after January 1, 2024, there is no deadline at all. You do not have to file a government claim first. More on deadlines.

Who may have a claim

Anyone sexually abused by staff while held at Central Juvenile Hall at any time before it closed in 2023, and anyone abused by another youth where staff failed to supervise or ignored warnings. Los Angeles County claims. Not part of the county’s settlements? You can still file.

Talk to us

If you were abused while held at this facility, at any age, call 877-428-4544. The conversation is private and free. Claims are filed under a Doe name, a criminal record or an open case does not disqualify you, and there is no attorney fee and no costs unless we recover.

The facts above are drawn from official records and news reports as of October 2026. Arrests and civil allegations are not findings of guilt. This page is general information, not legal advice, and the cases described are not our cases.