East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility Abuse Claims

East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility, at 446 Alta Road in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, opened in 2004 and is run by the San Diego County Probation Department. It is the county’s primary booking facility for arrested youth, with 290 beds, and it houses the Youth Development Academy, the county’s secure treatment program for young people who would once have gone to the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice. Since the Kearny Mesa juvenile hall closed in 2022 it has also held girls.

What the record shows

• Attorney General investigation. On May 13, 2025, the California Attorney General opened a civil rights investigation into conditions at East Mesa and the county’s Youth Transition Campus, and into the education provided there, to determine whether there is a pattern or practice of violating young people’s rights.
• Use of force. The San Diego County Juvenile Justice Commission reported 623 use-of-force incidents at East Mesa in 2023, including 368 uses of pepper spray, compared with 88 pepper spray incidents in 2019, and 31 vacant officer positions at the end of that year.
• Sexual abuse reports. The county’s own 2024 report under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act lists three allegations of sexual abuse of youth by staff and 28 allegations of sexual harassment by staff at East Mesa; the county substantiated one of the harassment allegations and none of the abuse allegations. Internal findings are not the end of the inquiry: in a civil case, the complaint logs, the investigations, and the officers’ histories are all discoverable.
• Grand jury. The 2025–26 San Diego County Grand Jury found that the lack of body-worn cameras on probation officers in the juvenile facilities was detrimental and recommended that all officers be equipped with them.
• Earlier allegations. In 2009 a supervising probation officer was accused of repeatedly molesting a 17-year-old boy held at East Mesa; she resigned, and no charges were filed after the boy recanted and refused to cooperate with investigators.
• Lawsuits. In July 2026 eight more former detainees sued over sexual abuse by officers in county juvenile facilities; the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that their claims resembled earlier suits by former residents of East Mesa, the Kearny Mesa hall, Camp Barrett, and the Polinsky Children’s Center, and that hundreds of other former residents already had similar suits pending. In August 2026 at least 88 more former wards of the juvenile halls and the Polinsky Children’s Center filed two further suits, and the newspaper reported more than 300 childhood sexual abuse lawsuits pending against the county.

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 East Mesa, in the detention units or the Youth Development Academy, at any time since 2004, and anyone abused by another youth where staff failed to supervise or ignored warnings. San Diego 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.