The Girls Rehabilitation Facility (GRF) in San Diego was supposed to offer structure, care, and a second chance to court-involved girls. Instead, civil lawsuits and survivor accounts reveal a deeply troubling reality: a facility that allowed sworn officers to use their positions of authority to sexually exploit the very minors they were charged with protecting.

As more survivors come forward, a clearer picture has emerged of a juvenile justice system plagued by abuse, cover-ups, and systemic failures. These lawsuits seek to hold the County of San Diego and the San Diego Probation Department accountable for the sexual assaults that allegedly occurred under their watch.

A Culture of Abuse at the Girls Rehabilitation Facility (GRF)

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.

Camp Barrett was a juvenile detention facility operated by the San Diego County Probation Department and located in Alpine, California. It was meant to serve as a rehabilitation program for boys placed in custody by the juvenile court system—many of whom were minors with no history of violence. But for some of the youth sent there, Camp Barrett became a site of profound trauma.

Survivors have come forward with allegations that staff members—including sworn officers—sexually abused boys in their custody, taking advantage of the facility’s isolation and lack of oversight. The reports describe a system that did not simply overlook warning signs but created the conditions that allowed abuse to occur. Officers had access to children in private spaces, complaints were ignored or never documented, and leadership failed to act despite indications of misconduct.

Instead of safety and rehabilitation, these boys were met with exploitation. And the very institution responsible for their care—the San Diego County Probation Department—now faces serious questions about how this abuse was allowed to continue unchecked for years.