Central Valley Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center Abuse Claims

Central Valley Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center, at 900 East Gilbert Street in San Bernardino, is the San Bernardino County Probation Department’s main juvenile hall; youth booked at the county’s High Desert intake facility are transferred there. The county describes it as a facility of more than 200 beds that held about 100 youth at the end of 2024. The campus was rebuilt after the Board of Supervisors approved a replacement project in 2008.

What the record shows

• In October 2013 a county probation officer was arrested on suspicion of a sexual relationship with a minor held at the San Bernardino juvenile hall; she pleaded no contest in January 2015 and was sentenced to 180 days.
• The county’s 2025 report under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act lists five allegations of sexual abuse of youth by staff and two allegations of sexual harassment by staff at the facility during the year; the county classified all of them as unfounded or unsubstantiated. Its 2024 report recorded one substantiated allegation of sexual harassment by staff and two substantiated allegations of sexual harassment between youth. Internal findings do not end the inquiry: in a civil case, the complaints, the investigations, and the officers’ histories are all discoverable.
• The county’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission inspected the facility in 2025.

The 2026 lawsuits

In May 2026 a lawsuit was filed in state court on behalf of 136 former detainees alleging sexual abuse by staff between 1996 and 2024 at San Bernardino County juvenile facilities, including the Central Valley and High Desert centers, as reported by the San Bernardino Sun. The same month, a lawsuit by ten former detainees was refiled in federal court alleging abuse at the county juvenile hall between 1998 and 2005, when they were 12 to 17 years old. An earlier suit, reported in December 2023, alleged that one plaintiff was abused by a county probation officer at age 10. The county has not reported any settlement of these claims.

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 Valley, at the former West Valley Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center in Rancho Cucamonga, or at any other San Bernardino County juvenile facility, at any time, and anyone abused by another youth where staff failed to supervise or ignored warnings. Riverside and San Bernardino County claims.

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.