LA County DA claims four in five cases in $4 billion sex abuse payout may be fraudulent - BERITAJA

Los Angeles County’s territory lawyer says he believes 4 successful 5 claims successful the largest activity maltreatment colony successful U.S. history whitethorn beryllium clone — a declare that dwarfs erstwhile assumptions complete the standard of fraud wrong the $4 cardinal payout.

Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman has asked the judge overseeing the bulk of the activity maltreatment cases to region payments for six months while he continues his sprawling criminal investigation into the plaintiffs, lawyers, and therapists down the claims.

Distributing the money now, he argues, will hamper his investigation “by complicating witnesser practice [and] obscuring financial trails.”

The region agreed successful April 2025 to salary $4 cardinal to settee much than 11,000 claims of intersexual maltreatment arising from county-run juvenile halls, foster homes and a notorious children’s shelter. The claims, galore of which dated backmost decades, came aft California changed the statute of limitations to springiness victims who were sexually abused arsenic children a caller model to sue.

Seven months aft the payout was announced, the DA’s agency opened a probe, spurred by claims that immoderate plaintiffs made up stories of maltreatment and were ne'er successful region custody. Times investigations recovered 9 group who said they were paid mini amounts of rate by recruiters to writer the region for activity maltreatment successful juvenile halls. Four of them said they fabricated the claims.

Hochman’s pause, if granted, would only use to the maltreatment cases stemming from juvenile halls, which dress up the bulk of the lawsuits, and not the cases arising from foster attraction aliases the children’s shelter. Lawyers successful the lawsuit are expected to spell successful beforehand of Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff Monday for a proceeding connected the request.

The DA’s petition Wednesday for different six-month hold unleashed an contiguous backlash among victims, who anticipated getting their payments earlier this twelvemonth and person grown weary of repeated delays. Some person taken retired high-interest loans against their settlement, which are eating up a greater percent of their payout pinch each passing year.

The horrific maltreatment they suffered astatine the hands of region employees, they worry, has now taken a backseat to a circus of fraud allegations.

“They’re beyond frustrated,” said lawyer Patrick McNicholas, whose patient represents about 1,000 clients. “Once again, they’re getting victimized.”

He noted the payments are dispersed retired complete 5 years, which he argues would springiness prosecutors ample clip to do their investigation without worrying billions will beryllium fixed to fraudsters.

The declare that much than 80% of the much than 11,000 claims of maltreatment could beryllium fraudulent has drawn skepticism among immoderate victims and attorneys, who opportunity the number acold surpasses what anyone anticipated. Hochman did not explicate successful his tribunal filing really he arrived astatine that figure.

“I would emotion to cognize wherever they’re getting these numbers from,” said Karlina Howard, who sued the region complete maltreatment she knowledgeable arsenic a kid astatine Maclaren Hall, a children’s shelter now infamous for predatory staff.

Howard said since the fraud allegations surfaced past fall, galore victims person been pressed by the county’s lawyers to buttress their claims of abuse. But they opportunity the deficiency of records successful the decades-old cases mixed pinch the truth they were children astatine the clip of the maltreatment has made it an intolerable task, putting existent victims astatine consequence of being branded fraudsters.

“Who was I expected to tell? This is staff, and past they show you, ‘If you show anybody, you’ll ne'er spot your family again,’” she said. “We’re scared, we’re children, and we’re successful a installation that looks for illustration a jail.”

Since the revelations that immoderate plaintiffs were paid to sue, the region has ramped up the vetting process for claims, appointing a former presiding judge of the county’s Superior Court to vet cases by Downtown LA Law Group, 1 of the main firms progressive successful the cases. The rule patient represented each 9 of the clients The Times said pinch who said they were paid to writer the county.

Downtown LA Law Group, aliases DTLA, has vehemently denied paying immoderate of its clients to sue. The patient is besides under investigation by the State Bar, which is pushing to comb done their about 2,700 plaintiffs successful the activity maltreatment settlement.

But Hochman indicated successful his tribunal filing that he did not judge immoderate of the the myriad probes underway compared to what his agency could accomplish.

“The anterior and ongoing vetting by different agencies and entities has been insufficient to find whether the claims are fraudulent,” he stated.