Los Angeles County has agreed to pay an unprecedented $4 billion to settle over 6,800 childhood sexual abuse claims stemming from decades of alleged abuse in its juvenile detention and foster care systems. Lawyers say the payout is the largest of its kind in U.S. history.
The sweeping agreement, announced Friday, follows a wave of lawsuits filed under California’s Assembly Bill 218, a law passed in 2019 that expanded the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse.
The law opened a three-year window allowing claims dating back decades to be filed, according to New York Times.
“On behalf of the county, I apologize wholeheartedly to everyone who was harmed by these reprehensible acts,” said Los Angeles County Chief Executive Fesia Davenport. “The historic scope of this settlement makes clear that we are committed to helping the survivors recover and rebuild their lives.”
Most of the claims center on abuse that occurred from the 1980s to the 2000s, particularly at the now-shuttered MacLaren Children’s Center in El Monte, a county-run shelter that operated from 1961 until its closure in 2003. Lawsuits and reports from that time revealed severe mistreatment, including sexual assault by staff and a failure to conduct proper background checks on employees.
The $4 billion agreement surpasses other major abuse-related settlements, including the $2.4 billion settlement involving the Boy Scouts of America and the $1.5 billion paid by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
County officials warned the settlement would have major financial consequences. The Board of Supervisors is expected to formally approve it in the coming weeks. To fund the payout, the county plans to dip into reserves, issue bonds, and potentially make budget cuts. Officials noted the bonds alone would require annual payments of hundreds of millions of dollars for years to come.
Patrick McNicholas, an attorney representing more than 1,200 plaintiffs, said the settlement followed over 18 months of negotiations. “The number of claimants is huge. The county is huge. And we had to balance the goal of restorative justice with the county’s ability to pay,” he said.
The case adds to the financial strain on public institutions across California, many of which have faced a flood of claims since the passage of AB 218
