Many eyes had been on Los Angeles County on April 7 as a claims board accredited a protracted haggled-over $4-billion settlement, following a flood of lawsuits from victims who mentioned they had been sexually abused as youngsters in county-run lock-ups and foster houses.
That very same day, the L.A. County District Legal professional’s Workplace quietly finalized one other choice: The person who had emerged within the lawsuits as essentially the most prolific abuser wouldn’t face prison prices.
Thomas Jackson, 58, a former probation official who was accused by greater than two dozen girls of sexually abusing them after they had been minors, wouldn’t be prosecuted as a result of the alleged incidents occurred too way back, the April 7 declination memo mentioned.
The District Legal professional’s Workplace additionally declined to prosecute Altovise Abner, 46, a probation supervisor who was investigated for having intercourse with a minor at a camp in 2006, in line with one other April 7 memo.
Since state legislators gave victims of childhood sexual abuse a brand new window to sue in 2020, L.A. County has been flooded by claims from almost 7,000 plaintiffs who mentioned they had been abused by caretakers, probation employees or foster mother and father whereas they had been youngsters in county custody.
County officers referred solely two of the circumstances — these in opposition to Abner and Jackson — to the District Legal professional’s Workplace for investigation in December 2023. The selections to not cost them imply that no new prison prosecutions will consequence from the allegations that make up the most important intercourse abuse settlement in U.S. historical past.
The costs that prosecutors thought of in opposition to Jackson included statutory rape, oral intercourse with a minor and compelled penetration with a international object, in line with the declination memo by Deputy District Legal professional Melanie Buccat.
The potential prices for Abner, which included statutory rape, couldn’t be confirmed past an affordable doubt and had been additionally outdoors the statute of limitations, in line with Buccat’s declination memo.
In an announcement, a spokesperson for the D.A.’s workplace referred to as the alleged sexual assaults at probation amenities “deeply disturbing.” The workplace stays “steadfast in our dedication to searching for justice at any time when attainable, and we urge anybody with data of a possible crime to report it, so we will take well timed motion underneath the regulation,” the assertion mentioned.
County officers have mentioned {that a} dearth of data has made it inconceivable to defend in opposition to the lawsuits, fueling the traditionally giant settlement. The identical points, they mentioned, have made it tough to analyze the claims for prison prosecution.
Many victims, who had been youngsters on the time of the abuse, by no means knew the primary names of their abusers. The perpetrators are normally recognized within the lawsuits as some variation on John Doe, with few figuring out particulars. The data to corroborate the allegations, a few of which date again to the Nineteen Fifties, have disappeared. Folks have moved away or died.
Jackson, who resigned in 2023 after three many years with the county, is a notable exception. His full title was cited in no less than 30 lawsuits, in line with filings from 4 totally different regulation corporations. One other 26 plaintiffs recognized their abuser as having the final title Jackson however didn’t know a primary title, in line with attorneys from two different corporations.
Courtney Thom, whose regulation agency represents 17 shoppers accusing Jackson of abusing them at a Santa Clarita juvenile camp, mentioned the choice to not prosecute him was “deeply disappointing.”
“The kids he’s alleged to have raped and molested in unthinkable methods by no means stood an opportunity — silenced then, and now,” she wrote in a textual content message. “To be met with an absence of accountability from these entrusted to uphold justice isn’t solely heartbreaking — it’s terrifying.”
Abner, who was positioned on depart in 2023, was accused in a separate lawsuit of groping a 17-year-old at a juvenile camp in Lancaster round 2006. Abner now works as a program supervisor on the homeless nonprofit HOPICS, in line with her LinkedIn.
Abner couldn’t instantly be reached for remark. Jackson’s lawyer, Tom Yu, mentioned his consumer was harmless, and he was happy the case had been dropped.
