Los Angeles County is investigating those who have filed bogus damage claims, alleging that they were victims of childhood sexual abuse after the county approved a record settlement with those who were allegedly abused at county facilities, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
This year, the LA County Board of Supervisors approved two settlements that totaled over $4.8 billion with over 11,000 people who claim to have been sexually abused as children while being under the care of LA County, especially at Probation Department facilities and the MacLaren Children’s Center, a children’s residential care center that was shut down in 2003. It’s believed to be one of the largest sex abuse settlements in U.S. history.
When the settlements were reached, LA County Counsel Dawyn Harrison said the staggering agreements may create room for the county to be vulnerable to fraud, pledging that her office would rigorously vet each claim.
Now District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s office is conducting a criminal investigation by “aggressively going after” those who make fake claims or people who are recruited to pose as potential plaintiffs.
The Los Angeles Times reported previously that some plaintiffs in the $4 billion sex abuse settlement were paid by vendors to sue the county, and in at least two cases, fabricate claims so they could become plaintiffs. In some cases, according to the LA times, people were paid by an LA law firm to file false claims.
“Now the fraudsters come in a variety of different ways,” District Attorney Hochman said in a news conference Wednesday. “These can be individual claimants that never suffered sexual abuse. At any point, at the hands of Los Angeles County, but they looked at this potential settlement as a way to get some free money.”
But Hochman offered a free pass for those who were looped into the alleged fraud schemes against the county, saying those who come forward voluntarily could be given a measure of amnesty.
“We will not use your words against you in any criminal prosecution,” Hochman said.
The landmark settlements came on the heels of AB 218, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on allegations of childhood sexual abuse. Hochman said the law did not factor in the looming lawsuits and settlements that local municipalities would face.
“When the state of California passed this, it provided zero dollars – zero dollars to pay for what they knew would be billions and billions and billions of dollars of compensation that were now going to be faced by every county, city and school district,” the district attorney said.
Hochman said the number of estimated claims against the county could rise past 14,000 and cost the county billions more as he urged anyone with any information on the filing of false claims to report it.