The L.A. County Board of Supervisors confirmed a $4.4 billion settlement was authorized Tuesday as compensation for child victims of county abuse, who were given a three-year window to file old claims under a 2020 state law.
The settlement is now awaiting formal ratification by a supervisors’ vote, which is scheduled for April 29.
Assembly Bill 218 extended the civil statute of limitations on child sexual abuse claims and created a three-year “lookback” period for old claims.
The law allowed children who suffered abuse in county facilities — most notably more than 3,000 supervised at the MacLaren Children’s Center in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s — to file claims for abuse that ranged from being sold drugs to sexual assault at the hands of their custodians.
It was not immediately known exactly how many local victims were identified, but multiple local lawsuits have arisen from the extended statute.
When reached for comment Friday, L.A. County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger referred to the board’s authorized statement, which was emailed by Lennie LaGuire, director of countywide communications.
“On behalf of Los Angeles County, we would like to acknowledge the suffering of all who were victimized by these deplorable acts stretching back decades,” according to the statement. “No child should ever be subjected to sexual abuse — and that is particularly true of the vulnerable young people entrusted to the county’s care.”
The settlement approved Tuesday by the L.A. County Claims Board is the largest regional financial impact by far from the law, according to county officials.
“This is the costliest financial settlement in the history of L.A. County, and will have a significant impact on the county’s budget for years to come,” according to a statement from L.A. County CEO Fesia Davenport, who also apologized to the victims. “The county’s plan to pay for the settlement includes cash from reserve funds, issuance of judgment obligation bonds and proposed cuts in departmental budgets.”
LaGuire also said the 2025-26 budget would be unveiled Monday and discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.
Under Assembly Bill 218, the civil statute of limitations extended until an abuse survivor turns 40, or for five years after the survivor learns or reasonably should have discovered that childhood sexual assault caused the survivor psychological or other injury, whichever is later.
The William S. Hart Union High School District also faced a pair of claims from the 2020 law.
The first claim filed in November was filed by Slater, Slater Schulman, a New York-based firm involved in the county settlement, against Sierra Vista Junior High School, for an incident that occurred in the 1970s.
The teacher in that incident, identified as Roy Turner in court records, is believed to be deceased. That case was dismissed in July 2024 without a notice of settlement. Slater, Slater Schulman did not respond to a request for comment.
A second case involved a woman who alleged she was assaulted by Jeffrey W. Plum after he was named Saugus High’s band director in 1980, when she was a 14-year-old student. The complaint alleges that the district’s response furthered the trauma experienced by the victim, who ultimately quit the band but was forced to see the defendant around campus until ultimately the district asked him to resign.
A notice of settlement was filed in that case Feb. 4. A hearing for the case is scheduled for May 12 in Chatsworth.
A Hart district official said any potential settlement information was not immediately available Friday afternoon.
