California juvenile detention officers staged ‘gladiator fights’ between youth, indictment says

Thirty officers at a Southern California juvenile detention facility have been charged for their role in facilitating so-called “gladiator fights” between youth in their care, the state’s attorney general said Monday.

Thirty officers at a Southern California juvenile detention facility have been charged for their role in facilitating so-called “gladiator fights” between youth in their care, the state’s attorney general said Monday. A grand jury indictment alleges the officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles County allowed and sometimes encouraged nearly 70 fights to take place between July 2023 and December 2023. More than 140 victims between the ages of 12 and 18 were involved. “We believe that this was planned, it was intended,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “They often wanted them to happen at the beginning of the day, in a certain time, in a certain place, a space and a time was created for the fights, and the plan was for the fights to happen.” The officers face charges including child endangerment and abuse, conspiracy, and battery. Twenty-two of the officers were scheduled to be arraigned Monday at the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The investigation began after the Los Angeles Times first obtained and published footage that shows a 17-year-old being attacked by at least six other young people, who come at him one-by-one as officers stand by watching. Some officers appear to laugh and shake hands with the participants in the beating.