{"id":513039,"date":"2026-01-13T12:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T12:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/513039\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T12:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T12:02:14","slug":"l-a-county-womens-jail-inmates-allege-sexual-abuse-by-guards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/513039\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. County women\u2019s jail inmates allege sexual abuse by guards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Both women say it happened in a blind spot in a dark stairwell.<\/p>\n

There \u2014 out of view of Century Regional Detention Facility\u2019s many security cameras \u2014 they claim a jailer sexually assaulted them while they were handcuffed.<\/p>\n

The two women, whose names are being withheld because The Times generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual assault, spoke in phone calls from the jail in Lynwood, where they remain incarcerated. They claim male jail staffers forced them to engage in oral sex, groped and ogled them and offered clean water and other basic supplies in exchange for sexual acts.<\/p>\n

When the women came forward and filed reports, they say, they were met with retaliation, including long stretches of solitary confinement in an area known as \u201cthe hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to questions about the allegations, the L.A County Sheriff\u2019s Department issued a statement to The Times listing a wide range of efforts it said it has undertaken to prevent sexual misconduct by employees and probe inmate complaints.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department takes all allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse of authority, and violations of Department policy extremely seriously and they are investigated thoroughly and objectively,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThe Department maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward any form of sexual abuse or harassment within its facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Inside <\/p>\n

Inside the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, where women say they were subjected to sexual abuse by staff.<\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The women are among 38 plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed in October<\/a> that echoes several claims they made to The Times. The complaint described sexual abuse by guards in the hole, including allegations that male deputies would watch women shower and \u201cintentionally fondle\u201d their bodies.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Brian Dunn, managing partner and lead civil rights attorney with the Cochran Firm, which brought the lawsuit, filed an amended complaint that included 16 additional inmate plaintiffs. Dunn asked the judge to issue an injunction barring male guards from viewing women in the shower or transporting women to and from showers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese men should not be overseeing these women. It should be women,\u201d Dunn said in an interview. \u201cThey have beat these women down so badly spiritually and emotionally that they \u2026 feel that they have to accept this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Department\u2019s statement said making staffing decisions based strictly on gender would violate state law, though it acknowledged that \u201ccertain positions within custodial facilities are lawfully restricted to female personnel due to the specific and sensitive nature\u201d of the jobs.<\/p>\n

\"An <\/p>\n

An inmate at Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.<\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Department said last month that two deputies named in the October lawsuit still were \u201cactively working,\u201d with one now at Men\u2019s Central Jail and another still on duty at the women\u2019s facility. The deputy who at Men\u2019s Central Jail still was \u201cactively working\u201d as of Friday, the department said, and the other deputy has since been relieved of duty.<\/p>\n

The two inmates who spoke with The Times offered similar but independent accounts of incidents they said happened while they were being transported out of the jail. <\/p>\n

One woman, 33, said that in or around June, a jailer stopped in a dark stairwell as he was escorting her in handcuffs to a transport bus for a court appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe pulled out his penis and stuck his penis in my mouth. And it was the most disgusting thing ever,\u201d she said. \u201cInstantly, I was thinking, like, should I bite it? … But I\u2019m thinking he\u2019s a cop, like what can I really do? I\u2019m handcuffed and if I do anything like that he can push me down the rest of the flight of stairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second inmate shared allegations against the same jailer. The 34-year-old mother of two said he sexually abused her in a \u201cblind spot\u201d in the stairwell while she was handcuffed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would rub his private area against my hands,\u201d she said. \u201cHe would kind of choke me a little bit. He\u2019d aggressively grab on my breasts a lot. He tried to kiss me but his breath was so bad I did not let him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The staffer told her \u201cyou put up a lot of fight, worse than the other ones,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Inmates <\/p>\n

Inmates gather for a holiday event at Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.<\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The inmate alleges she was assaulted in the stairwell eight or nine times during the six months she was housed in a unit known as \u201cHigh Power,\u201d where she was locked down for 23 hours a day. Each time, she alleges, she faced retaliation if she spoke up, including threats to prevent her from showering or making phone calls.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes on the way back from court, I would deal with the same thing. He was relentless,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Department said in its statement that it investigates \u201cevery allegation we are aware of.\u201d It added that \u201cThe Department follows a structured, multi-step investigative process to ensure every allegation is handled thoroughly and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haley Broder, chair of the Sybil Brand Commission, which provides civilian oversight of L.A. County jails, said during the commission\u2019s Thursday meeting that she and her colleagues heard \u201creally graphic and horrific stories\u201d of sexual abuse and retaliation from inmates during unannounced visits to Century Regional Detention Facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a problem with one deputy. It\u2019s multiple deputies,\u201d she said, and added, \u201cWe\u2019re hearing about cases where these women are reporting sexual assault and then are put into solitary confinement and are experiencing even worse conditions after reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission documented past allegations of sexual assault and abuse by deputies at the Lynwood jail. An August inspection report detailed an inmate\u2019s claim that after she complained about an alleged assault by a deputy last spring, she was retaliated against by an unnamed sergeant and \u201cdenied meals after previously receiving a special diet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunn, the lawyer in the lawsuit filed on behalf of the inmates, described the jail as \u201can environment in there where none of these women believe anything is going to happen\u201d if they file a complaint.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Department\u2019s statement said it \u201cholds its personnel to highest standards and when there is evidence of criminal misconduct or violations of Department policy, individuals are held accountable.\u201d <\/p>\n

The 34-year-old inmate alleged that the same guard who she said assaulted her in the stairwell also forced her to submit to unwanted sexual touching in exchange for bottles of water. Whenever the power went out, she said, the tap water in the \u201cHigh Power\u201d unit would turn a \u201cdisgusting\u201d brown color, so the inmates were supposed to be provided with six water bottles daily. <\/p>\n

Instead of simply handing the water over to her and other inmates she said she spoke with, the jailer \u201cwould not give us our water unless, when he gave it to us, we would let him slip his fingers in our panties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to talk about it now makes me feel gross, but I was so thirsty,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old inmate said she told her family about her own alleged assault in the stairwell, and that her mother advised her to seek medical attention.<\/p>\n

The woman said she underwent an exam with a nurse, which led to a complaint under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, or PREA, a federal law that requires mandatory reporting of alleged sexual abuse. The inmate said the process led to a meeting with two male sergeants, one who was PREA compliance manager at the time; the other would later hold that role.<\/p>\n

She said she told them about the stairwell incident and other allegations of abuse. One deputy, she claimed, took advantage of her in multiple ways while she was in the \u201cHigh Power\u201d unit, including by watching her in the shower and forcing her to expose herself to get basic supplies, such as a sharpened pencil for writing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would ask me to show my ass for mail,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said she was \u201cshocked\u201d when one of the sergeants conducting the interview began making uncomfortable remarks.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood has been the site of alleged abuse before.<\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

She claimed that the PREA compliance manager asked, \u201cWell, why did you show your body parts?\u201d before telling her \u201cI get it\u201d and explaining that he would comply if \u201ca hot chick\u201d told him to expose himself. The Sheriff\u2019s Department did not address the alleged exchange in its response to an inquiry from The Times.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old said the same deputy who allegedly threatened to withhold the other prisoner\u2019s mail privileges repeatedly watched her shower and told her she would be put on lockdown if she didn\u2019t allow him to view her nude body.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would look at me and give me a once over, bite his lip, and then walk away,\u201d the older inmate said.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Department\u2019s statement said the deputy \u201cwas relieved of duty on January 5, 2026, pending the outcome of an internal administrative investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although L.A. County inmates have filed more than 590 claims of sexual abuse and harassment against deputies since 2021, none were deemed \u201csubstantiated\u201d by Sheriff\u2019s Department investigators and zero were referred to the L.A. County district attorney\u2019s office for prosecution, the Times reported<\/a> last month. <\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Department said in its statement this week that \u201cthere have been nine PREA cases sent to\u201d internal bureaus where they are \u201cstill being actively investigated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The department said it previously \u201cfailed to mention\u201d that it sent one case, from July 2021, to the district attorney\u2019s office, which declined to filed charges. The agency said it conducted an internal investigation and \u201cultimately two employees separated from the Department\u201d last year.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old said she remains housed in a disciplinary unit at the jail where she is confined to a cell 23 hours a day. She said shame and histories of trauma have kept more women from speaking out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all broken. We\u2019ve been abused in other ways before we even got to this facility,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad to say,\u201d she added, \u201cbut you get used to it, and then you feel like you deserve it sometimes, because you feel guilty about what you\u2019ve done. So you\u2019re like, \u2018I deserve the punishment,\u2019 but at the end of the day, it\u2019s not OK.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Both women say it happened in a blind spot in a dark stairwell. There \u2014 out of view…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":513040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[79645,229249,1582,276,190404,229248,3040,7726,6808,4236,229246,229247,2961,224,5337,10410,12498,11004,637,11459],"class_list":{"0":"post-513039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-allegation","9":"tag-brian-dunn","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-clean-water","13":"tag-dark-stairwell","14":"tag-department","15":"tag-deputy","16":"tag-facility","17":"tag-guard","18":"tag-inmate-complaint","19":"tag-jail-inmate","20":"tag-la","21":"tag-los-angeles","22":"tag-losangeles","23":"tag-sexual-abuse","24":"tag-sheriff","25":"tag-statement","26":"tag-times","27":"tag-woman"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115887692999981730","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}