LA County announces mammoth $4 billion tentative settlement covering 6,800 sexual abuse claims

Los Angeles County announced it has reached a $4 billion tentative settlement covering more than 6,800 sexual abuse claims, some dating as far back as the 1950s, according to a statement from the county released Friday morning.

The settlement would be the most expensive in county history and will impact budgets for years if not decades, to come, the statement said.

The mammoth settlement can proceed after approval by the the Board of Supervisors and the L.A. County Claims Board.

The agreement would resolve most claims filed against the County under AB 218. That initiative waived the statute of limitations on sexual abuse cases and and created a three-year window to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to present their allegations.

An independent team of allocation experts would review all the cases, the county said.

“On behalf of the County, I apologize wholeheartedly to everyone who was harmed by these reprehensible acts,” Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport said. “The historic scope of this settlement makes clear that we are committed to helping the survivors recover and rebuild their lives—and to making and enforcing the systemic changes needed to keep young people safe.”

The majority of the claims date from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and are alleged to have happened at Probation Department facilities and at the MacLaren Children’s Center.

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