East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility Sex Abuse Lawsuits

Countless juvenile inmates at the East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility in San Diego may have been victims of sexual abuse due to the negligence of the San Diego County Probation Department. On this page, we will explain how victims of sexual abuse at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Center can file civil lawsuits and get financial settlements.

East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility

East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility (“East Mesa” or EMJDF) is a fully secure detention facility for juveniles. EMJDF is located in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego and it is the primary intake and booking facility for all juvenile offenders in San Diego County.

East Mesa has the capacity to hold just under 300 juvenile inmates. Inmates are assigned to 10 separate housing barracks or units with 30-20 inmates each. Inmates at East Mesa receive the full range of educational and health services, including behavioral health and substance abuse treatment.

Most juvenile inmates at East Mesa are short-term inmates who are housed at EMJDF temporarily after they have been charged with a crime and while they are awaiting adjudication of their case and assignment to a different facility. EMJDF also accommodates juveniles who are awaiting placement into a treatment program.

Sexual Abuse of Juvenile Inmates in San Diego County

Sexual abuse and victimization of juvenile inmates at detention facilities in San Diego County has been a major problem for a long time. Incidents of sexual abuse of young inmates by staff members and correctional officers at facilities such as EMJDF have been a regular occurrence. Below is a list of the major juvenile detention facilities in San Diego County in addtion to East Mesa,  all of which have had significant issues with sexual abuse of inmates:

• Camp Barrett: Now closed, this facility in Alpine was the location of many incidents of abuse
• Kearny Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility (KMJDF): Once one of the biggest long-term facilities, this is now closed.
• Rancho Del Campo Juvenile Ranch: This facility has probably the worst history of sexual and physical abuse of inmates
• Girls Rehabilitation Facility (GRF): Female detention facility.

Inmate Sexual Abuse at East Mesa

East Mesa has suffered from many of the same systemic problems that have plagued all of the San Diego County juvenile detention facilities and directly resulted in the widespread sexual abuse of juvenile inmates. The primary problem was administrative neglect and a lack of monitoring and oversight by the San Diego County Probation Department (SDCPD). SDCPD has operational control and authority over all the County’s juvenile detention facilities, including East Mesa.

Sexual abuse of juvenile inmates at East Mesa has primarily been perpetrated by correctional officers and other staff members at the facility. These abusers use their positions of power and authority, combined with their unmonitored access, to coerce juvenile inmates into sexual favors. The sexual abuse coercion usually takes the form of threats of physical harm or removal of privileges, combined with extra perks and benefits for cooperation.

So for those held at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility, the memories are often vivid and deeply personal. The stories that have emerged from former inmates do not describe a facility focused on rehabilitation. Instead, they reveal a culture shaped by isolation, indifference, and unchecked authority. Within that environment, sexual abuse was not only possible… it was, for many, unavoidable.

San Diego County Probation Department maintained control over East Mesa, yet the safeguards that should have protected juveniles were either nonexistent or deliberately ignored. Reports were dismissed. Officers were unsupervised. Oversight was more of a formality than a functional system. The very design of East Mesa, with its segregated housing units and limited visibility, allowed abusive staff to exploit their positions without fear of accountability.

Many survivors who now come forward do so after years, even decades, of silence. Some tried to speak up at the time and were ignored or punished. Others were too afraid. These patterns are not just morally disturbing—they form the basis of legal claims. When an institution repeatedly fails to act on reports of abuse, ignores red flags, or fosters an environment where minors are unsafe, the law allows survivors to seek justice.

If you were at East Mesa and experienced abuse, your memories are valid. They align with a pattern that has now come into public view. You are not alone, and what happened to you was not your fault.

SDCPD’s Negligence Enabled the Abuse to Occur

As the agency in charge of East Mesa and other facilities, SDCPC has a legal duty to ensure that juvenile inmates are reasonably safe. This includes keeping them safe from sexual abuse and assault by staff members. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that SDCPD habitually failed in this duty.

One of the primary problems that enabled sexual abuse of inmates to occur was the lack of proper oversight. Correctional officers had almost unlimited private access to juvenile inmates without any type of monitoring or supervision. This gave predatory staff the opportunity to abuse inmates sexually.

The other major shortcoming at East Mesa and other facilities has been a failure to investigate complaints. When juvenile inmates complained about sexual abuse by staff or correctional officers, administration at the facility routinely disregarded or dismissed these complaints without any type of investigation. In some cases, allegations were actually suppressed. The direct result of this was that predatory staff members were allowed to continue abusing inmates without any fear of consequences.

Holding SDCPD Legally Accountable

Civil lawsuits for sexual abuse of juvenile inmates at East Mesa seek to hold SDCPD legally accountable for allow the abuse to occur by forcing the County to pay financial compensation to victims of abuse. SDCPD may be held legally accountable for incidents of sexual abuse if it knew—or reasonably should have known—about the risk of abuse and failed to take appropriate action to prevent it. Establishing liability would require a victim to demonstrate a connection between their abuse and the county’s negligence. This

Deadline for East Mesa Sex Abuse Lawsuits

The statute of limitations is the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit. For childhood sexual abuse cases in California, the rule has changed in recent years. If the abuse happened on or after January 1, 2024, there is no deadline at all. For abuse that occurred earlier, survivors generally have until their 40th birthday, or five years after realizing the abuse caused them harm. On paper, that is the law.

In practice, however, the Los Angeles County juvenile hall settlement showed how flexible the process can be. Thousands of survivors received compensation, including many who filed after the statute of limitations had technically expired. The county chose to resolve those claims rather than risk trials that would have exposed decades of misconduct.

Why did they settle cases where the statute of limitations has passed? You would like the think the answer is out of the goodness of their hearts.  But in reality, the defendants know California might change their law again to give victims even more rights.  So they are paying off claims that, at this moment, are not viable.

We anticipate the same outcome in San Diego. Survivors who file after the statute of limitations may see smaller payouts than those who filed on time, but they are still likely to be included in any global settlement. The bottom line is simple: if you were abused in a San Diego juvenile detention facility, do not assume you are out of time. History shows that these cases still settle.

Settlement Amounts in East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility Sex Abuse Lawsuits

Sexual abuse lawsuits involving East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility and other San Diego juvenile detention centers often result in substantial financial settlements. These are not ordinary personal injury cases. They involve systemic failures inside locked institutions, where vulnerable children were exposed to sexual abuse by the very staff meant to protect them. The harm is lasting, the legal exposure is significant, and survivors deserve justice.

The clearest precedent comes from Los Angeles County, where thousands of survivors of juvenile hall abuse received compensation through a landmark civil settlement. The average payout in that litigation approached $600,000 per claimant. That result now serves as the benchmark for institutional abuse claims throughout California, and many believe that San Diego County will follow the same template. The misconduct at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility parallels what occurred in Los Angeles, both in scope and legal consequence.

Your potential settlement amount will depend on several key factors:

First, the nature and severity of the trauma you experienced matters. Courts and juries recognize the lasting psychological damage that can follow sexual abuse in detention. Conditions like PTSD, chronic anxiety, or depression will typically increase the settlemetn payout for a claim.

Second, any supporting evidence can help strengthen your case. Medical records, incident reports, staff complaints, or internal documents from East Mesa may all be used to establish liability and increase potential compensation.

Third, the frequency and duration of the abuse are critical. Survivors who endured repeated assaults over time often receive higher settlements than those whose experience, while no less serious, involved a single incident.

Fourth, you do not need to remember the name of the person who abused you. Many survivors cannot. These cases are about the institution’s failure to protect you, not just about identifying one individual perpetrator.

Finally, your age at the time of the abuse will also factor into the valuation. Younger victims often suffer more profound and lasting harm, and that is reflected in the compensation survivors receive.

Even if your abuse happened years ago, and even if you believe the deadline has passed, you may still have a valid claim. Recent history has shown us over and over that places like San Diego County prefer to settle rather than face public trials involving systemic child abuse. No one wants to go in front of a jury in these cases. So if you were abused at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility, the time to come forward is now.

Contact Us About East Mesa Juvenile Detention Sex Abuse Lawsuits

If you were sexually abused at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility, contact our sex abuse lawyers today for a free consultation. Contact us online or call us at 800-553-8082.

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