Kern County Juvenile Hall Sex Abuse Lawsuit

On this page, our national sex abuse lawyers explain what survivors of abuse at Kern County Juvenile Hall need to know about settlement amounts and potential compensation. For years, juveniles held in Kern County facilities were subjected to sexual abuse and assault at the hands of staff and, in some cases, other inmates. These cases are now coming to light, and survivors are pursuing civil lawsuits against Kern County for failing to protect children in its custody.

Our lawyers believe the settlement amounts in these cases will be substantial. Los Angeles County recently agreed to pay more than $4 billion to resolve juvenile hall sex abuse claims, with average payouts of nearly $600,000 per survivor. Kern County lawsuits may not reach that exact level, but the Los Angeles settlement set the benchmark for institutional abuse claims across California. Survivors in Kern County should expect meaningful compensation, even in older cases, as pressure builds on counties to resolve both timely and expired claims together.

If you have a potential sex abuse lawsuit involving Kern County Juvenile Hall, call our sex abuse lawyers today at 800-553-8082 or get a free online consultation.

About Kern County Juvenile Hall

The Kern County Juvenile Detention Center (officially known as “James G. Bowles Juvenile Hall”) is a juvenile detention facility operated at the county level by the Kern County Probation Department. Kern County Juvenile Hall is located in Bakersfield, California and it accommodates both male and female juvenile offenders. The facility primarily serves as a short-term detention center for juveniles who have been charged and are awaiting adjudication.

Kern County Juvenile Hall is one of California’s oldest juvenile detention facilities still in operation. The facility was originally opened in 1952. Today,  James G. Bowles Juvenile Hall can house up to 108 juvenile inmates. The average time of commitment is 42 days.

On paper, Kern County Juvenile Hall offered the basics: food, clothing, medical care, and schooling. Boys were placed in structured programs that mixed classroom instruction with outdoor activities and exercise. But what was promised as structure and rehabilitation too often became a cover for something else… the unchecked power of staff inside the facility, and the abuse that many survivors now describe in lawsuits.

Sexual Abuse of Inmates at Kern County Juvenile Hall

New reports and investigations have recently revealed that sexual abuse of inmates at juvenile detention facilities in California has been a major systemic problem for a long time. Kern County Juvenile Hall is one of the detention centers at which juvenile inmates were frequently subjected to sexual assault and abuse, primarily at the hands of adult staff members who were supposed to protect them.

Holding Kern County Liable for Sexual Abuse of Juvenile Inmates

The Kern County Probation Department (“KCPD”) has full operational control and responsibility for Kern County Juvenile Hall. This includes screening, hiring, training, and properly supervising and monitoring staff members at the facility. KCPD was also legally obligated to take all reasonable measures to ensure the safety and well-being of juvenile inmates at the facility.

KCPD has a clear legal duty to ensure the safety of juvenile inmates, ultimately children, at Kern County Juvenile Hall. This means that KCPD will be held liable in a civil lawsuit if it negligently failed to ensure the safety of these kids, resulting in acts of sexual assault or abuse. There is a ton of evidence establishing systemic negligence on the part of KCPD in protecting its juvenile inmates from sexual abuse, particularly abuse by predatory staff members.

Many former correctional officers and/or staff members at the Bakersfield juvenile hall have been credibly accused and/or prosecuted for sexual abuse of juvenile inmates under their control. There is evidence that KCPD’s negligence enabled this abuse to occurred in a number of ways. Most significantly, KCPD repeatedly ignored and failed to investigate complaints from juvenile inmates about abuse or inappropriate conduct by staff members.

Abuse by Officer George Anderson

A number of former female juvenile inmates at Kern County Juvenile Hall have come forward with allegations that they were sexually abused by a former correctional officer named George Anderson. Some of these women have filed lawsuits against KCPD that resulted in financial settlements.

Between 2005 and 2015, George Anderson worked at Kern County Juvenile Hall as a correctional officer. In a civil lawsuit brought by three different female inmates, Officer Anderson was accused of very similar acts of sexual abuse. Officer Anderson would watch the girls in the shower, then start grooming his victims. Anderson would make sexually explicit comments about the girls and eventually solicit sex from them.

The lawsuits alleged that Anderson’s abuse of these female inmates was the result of KCPD’s negligence. The lawsuits claimed that KCPD had received numerous prior complaints about Anderson watching female inmates while they showered, but did nothing about it. They also accused KCPD of negligence in failing to exercise proper oversight and training.

California’s Statute of Limitations for Juvenile Detention Center Sexual Abuse Claims

California’s rules on when survivors of childhood sexual abuse can file lawsuits have shifted a lot in recent years. The details can feel complicated, but the core idea is simple: deadlines matter less than they used to.

If the abuse happened on or after January 1, 2024, there is no statute of limitations at all. Survivors can sue whenever they are ready, even decades later.

If the abuse happened before 2024, the older rules still apply. Survivors generally have until age 40, or five years from when they realized the abuse caused lasting harm. For people who already missed that deadline, the law does not automatically reopen their cases.

But here is the key point: even expired claims are not dead. In 2025, Los Angeles County agreed to a $4 billion settlement for juvenile hall survivors, and many of those claims were technically time-barred. Why did the county pay? Because lawmakers can always reopen filing windows. Rather than gamble on what might happen, Los Angeles chose to settle everything at once—old cases and new cases together.

That deal has become the marker. Other institutions know they cannot just ignore expired claims. If history is any guide, we expect counties and agencies across California to follow the same playbook, settling broadly to cut off future risk.

The takeaway is straightforward. Even if you think too much time has passed, you may still have a real path to compensation.

Settlement Value of Kern County Juvenile Hall Sex Abuse Lawsuits

The settlement value of sex abuse lawsuits brought by former juvenile inmates at Kern County Juvenile Hall will generally depend on the severity and duration of the abuse, and the extent of KCPD’s negligence. Cases involving more severe acts of abuse (e.g., penetration) occurring over a long time period will have a high settlement value. Those in which there is clear evidence of obvious negligence on the part of KCPD, such as prior complaints of misconduct about the abuser, will also have a high settlement value.

In the case of Kern County Juvenile Hall, we have an excellent idea of the potential settlement compensation payout of sex abuse cases because there have been at least three reported settlements. The three settlements came in the abuse cases involving Officer George Anderson. The lawsuits brought by the three alleged victims of Anderson eventually settled for $200,000, $250,000, and $400,000. What was unique about those three cases is that the abuse did not involve any significant sexual contact by Anderson. The allegations of abuse involved Anderson watching the girls in the shower (a privacy violation) and then sexually soliciting them.

This means that the potential settlement amounts of a sexual abuse case involving more significant physical contact, such as actual penetration, or even just groping, will likely have an even higher settlement value. In fact, we think an abuse case in which the juvenile inmate was sexually assaulted could have a potential settlement value of $500,000 to $1 million.

Importantly, numbers in this range would track what we saw in the first round of juvenile hall settlements in Los Angeles, where the average value appears to push $600,000.  Kern County will say that is not a benchmark for what they will do. But it is. The county does not want these cases to go to trial and will do what it must to put them to bed.

Contact Us About Kern County Juvenile Hall Sex Abuse Cases

If you were sexually abused as an inmate at Kern County Juvenile Hall, you may be able to file a lawsuit and get compensation. Reach out to us online or call 800-553-8082.

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