Overcrowded, dangerous and vicious, with Roman Coliseum–level violence, Los Padrinos houses 284 youth between 12 and 18 years of age, including 249 males and 35 females.
In March, 30 LPJH staffers were indicted on charges that they had been instigating brutal fights between inmates, and were even betting on the outcome of these “gladiator battles.”
These are staffers responsible for caring for and protecting young people, and who instead were running their own version of “Fight Club,” watching children beat each other bloody.
“They would reward us for participating. It was for their entertainment.”
Over a period of six months, there were 69 such incidents involving 143 victims who were forced or bribed to fight each other.
“Every Thursday, the non-affiliates [non-gang members] would go and line up, and then you gotta fight each other,” said inmate Dovontray Farmer. “If you don’t want to fight each other, you’re going to have to fight a gang member. If you don’t want to do that, you get jumped.
“If you can fight, or you stab someone … then you can get popped out. You get extra phone calls, showers, even snacks like Gatorades and Snapples and Fruit Roll-Ups,” he said. “They would reward us for participating. It was for their entertainment.”
After arranging the fights, staff would watch them like the cheering audience of a professional wrestling show.
One inmate explained that the staff would say: “I’ll get you a bunch of food if you fight this guy.”
On the other hand, if inmates didn’t want to fight, they would be punished.
“The staff don’t serve our food. They just go get it from the kitchen and they have the kids serving our food,” Farmer said. “If we’re beefing or didn’t want to fight, the kid would spit in your food. So it’s like, now you gotta fight or you just ain’t gonna eat.”
Forced fights weren’t the only problem at Los Padrinos. In July, six staff members and one juvenile inmate were hospitalized for suspected drug overdoses. Meanwhile, a civilian tutor at LPJH was caught with 170 white Xanax pills in his possession, which he had been smuggling into the facility for sale.
LPJH is not a prison—it is basically a holding center for youth who have committed crimes. The youth may face trial, continued custody, or probation or community programs, depending on the determination of a judge.
The average stay there is from seven to 23 days.
One inmate, Floyd Harge, 22, said he was denied bathroom breaks, phone calls and was brutalized by the culture of violence in LPJH. “They didn’t really care about my personal health. They really just said, ‘You’re a criminal, so you’re gonna be a criminal.’”
“Facilities like Los Padrinos are meant to rehabilitate young people, not subject them to exploitation or harm.”
LPJH was also the scene of sexual abuse.
In one scandal, a 17-year-old inmate was allegedly sexually assaulted by a social worker. A federal lawsuit states that the worker “aggressively pursued and engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with him” despite him being under the age of consent.
Jamal Tooson, the family’s attorney in the case, said, “Anytime there is an individual in a position of power and that individual is directly tied to your freedom, to your rehabilitation, your privileges, while you are in there, there can be no relationship.… Appropriate measures aren’t being taken to protect the children and individuals at Los Padrinos,” Tooson added.
The website of Tooson’s firm states: “Facilities like Los Padrinos are meant to rehabilitate young people, not subject them to exploitation or harm. When those in positions of authority abuse their power, it represents a profound betrayal of trust, often silencing victims who fear retaliation or disbelief.”
In April of last year, the existence of the “gladiator fights” became publicly known when a video of one of the fights was released.
“The County of Los Angeles is responsible for safeguarding the safety and well-being of the children at its juvenile halls—and it has utterly failed in this responsibility to date,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “Officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall have a duty to ensure the safety and well-being of those under their care. Instead, the officers charged today did just the opposite—overseeing ‘gladiator fights’ when they should have intervened.”
“The indictment—and the filing of criminal charges—is an important step toward holding these officers accountable and addressing shortfalls at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. Let today’s charges be a warning for all those who abuse their power: The California Department of Justice is watching, and we will hold you accountable.”
But so far, the charges haven’t acted as the deterrent they were meant to be, leading Bonta to take steps to place LPJH under receivership.
“This drastic step to divest Los Angeles County of control over its juvenile halls is a last resort—and the only option left to ensure the safety and well-being of the youth currently in its care,” Bonta said in a press release. “For four and a half years, we’ve moved aggressively to bring the county into compliance with our judgment—and we’ve been met with glacial progress that has too often looked like one step forward and two steps back. Enough is enough. These young people deserve better, and my office will not stop until they get it.”
While there have been pressures from various groups to close LPJH down completely, instead LA Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza has ordered the LA County Probation Department to start lowering the number of inmates at the facility.
But what exactly will fewer inmates solve?
Author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard discovered that the key to true rehabilitation is restoring an individual’s self-respect. Criminon, a global rehabilitation program, harnesses his discoveries to empower offenders to regain their sense of self-worth and integrity, while restoring common-sense values so they can continue to learn and grow.
How can forced “gladiator fights,” brutal beatings, drug abuse and sexual harassment possibly accomplish any of that?
Like Farmer said, “Someone’s gotta hold them accountable.”
