High Desert Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center (Apple Valley) Abuse Claims

High Desert Juvenile Detention and Assessment Center, at 21101 Dale Evans Parkway in Apple Valley, is run by the San Bernardino County Probation Department. It served as a juvenile hall for the High Desert, was repurposed in 2019 as a booking-only facility, and since 2021 has housed the county’s Secure Youth Treatment Facility, known as ARISE, for young people who would once have been sent to the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice. The county’s reports describe ARISE as an 80-bed program in 2024 and a 120-bed program in 2025, housing youth and young adults between 14 and 25.

What the record shows

• The county’s 2025 report under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act lists two allegations of sexual abuse of youth by staff and three allegations of sexual harassment by staff in the ARISE program during the year, one of which the county substantiated. Its 2024 report recorded one allegation of staff sexual misconduct, classified as unsubstantiated.
• Because ARISE is a treatment program rather than a short-stay hall, youth are there far longer, which makes the county’s supervision of staff-youth relationships, and its handling of complaints, central to any abuse claim.
• The county’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission inspected the ARISE program and the intake unit 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 High Desert, in the juvenile hall or the ARISE program, 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.