Lawsuit: Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center and Camp Wilmont Sweeney

“Roughly 150 children who were confined at facilities run by the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center and Camp Wilmont Sweeney were sexually abused by Probation Department staff, mostly in the 2000s, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

The alleged abuse at the county facilities “was not a matter of isolated misconduct by a few rogue employees. Rather, it reflects a longstanding, systemic failure on the part of Alameda County officials to address red flags, properly supervise staff, and create conditions that could prevent such abuse,” attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in the lawsuit.

Interim Alameda County Counsel Andrea Weddle did not respond to an interview request about the lawsuit.

Alameda County Probation Department has a zero tolerance policy for any form of sexual misconduct perpetrated against youth in its care and custody, according to the county website.

The 224-page complaint, filed in state court a couple months ago, includes graphic descriptions of the alleged rapes, sexual assaults, and violence experienced by Alameda County teenagers during their confinement. Much of the alleged abuse took place during strip searches and cavity searches.

California law has strict rules regarding how cavity searches are to be conducted, which include that searches take place under sanctuary conditions and only by a licensed medical professional. The same goes for strip searches. Staff are not supposed to touch the breasts, buttocks, or genitalia of the person being searched. According to the suit, numerous minors reported that staff groped them during strip searches.

Other incidents involve male and female staff members who allegedly used force or threats to rape and assault children under their charge. For example, one 15-year-old plaintiff claims that in 2002, a male staffer sexually assaulted him behind an administration building. The unnamed staffer threatened to file a negative report if the child reported the incident, according to the complaint.

Multiple plaintiffs reported staffers physically restraining and sexually assaulting them in bunk spaces, kitchens, laundry rooms, and other areas.

According to the complaint, many of the abusers attempted to bribe their victims with treats and other perks to keep them silent. One teenager who was allegedly raped on a regular basis claims that his abuser provided him with cocaine and alcohol.

The victims claim they experienced a range of long-term mental, emotional, and psychological harms, including anxiety, depression, insomnia, and difficulty in establishing intimate relationships.

Not the first lawsuit against Alameda County’s juvenile justice system

In 2007, teenage plaintiffs claimed that after being arrested for misdemeanors, they were subjected to illegal strip searches at a San Leandro facility. The county resolved this suit with a $4.3 million settlement. In 2023, county prosecutors charged a juvenile institutional officer with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy while he was in custody in 2004 and 2005.

Doug Rochen, whose firm Dicello Levitt is representing the plaintiffs, told The Oaklandside that abuse in juvenile facilities isn’t unique to Alameda County. His firm has filed similar lawsuits in Nevada, Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

“It’s a pandemic,” Rochen said.

Dicello Levitt has a track record of forcing counties to pay for sexual misconduct against youth. Rochen, the lead attorney in the Alameda County case, was part of a similar lawsuit against LA County over sexual abuse in juvenile detention and foster care facilities that settled for $4 billion earlier this year, marking the largest municipal sex abuse settlement in history. That suit included more than 7,000 claims of sexual abuse.”

Alameda County accused of pattern of sex abuse in juvenile facilities

[The Oakland Side 7/6/26 by Eli Wolfe]

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