30 guards charged and accused of staging ‘gladiator’ flights involving more than 140 youths at detention center

More than two dozen officers at a California juvenile detention center were charged after video footage captured them “encouraging” dozens of so-called “gladiator fights” between children at the facility.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday that 30 detention services officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey were indicted on charges of child endangerment and abuse, conspiracy to commit a crime and battery.

The California Department of Justice launched an investigation into the matter after video footage of one of the so-called “gladiator fights” leaked in January 2024. Video footage from July through December 2023 captured the accused guards having “allowed and, in some instances, encouraged” 69 fights among kids at the detention center. The “gladiator fights” involved 143 kids between the ages of 12 and 18.

The disturbing December 2023 footage, first published by the Los Angeles Times, shows a classroom-like setting with Christmas-colored streamers hanging from the ceiling. What’s happening below is less joyous: a group of teenagers take turns punching and kicking one another as the guards watch and do little to nothing to intervene.

Kids sit at tables eating food as the fights transpire in front of them. Four guards stand by doors and walls while one stands in the middle of the room, dodging blows, as if supervising the tussles so that they don’t get too out of hand, but at the same time not doing anything to call them off.

According to the indictment, two of the officers in December informed the new detention officers that “youth fights were going to occur” and told them “they were not to say anything, write down anything and just watch.” This pair “allowed nine youth one-on-one fights” to occur that day, the indictment says.

One child, who fought eight one-on-one fights, broke a nose during the beating. One of these officers told the teens to “refuse treatment” when they went to get treated by nurses.

At one point, a teen in a short-sleeved gray shirt bounds into the room and takes multiple swings at a smaller kid, who just exited from another fight, until he throws him against the wall and kicks him as he lays on the ground. As the gray-shirted teen walks away victorious, a guard is seen high-fiving him.

Most of the officers, 22, were arraigned Tuesday while the remaining officers will be arraigned on April 18, Bonta said.

“Officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall have a duty to ensure the safety and well-being of those under their care. Instead, the officers charged today did just the opposite – overseeing ‘gladiator fights’ when they should have intervened,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The indictment – and the filing of criminal charges – is an important step toward holding these officers accountable and addressing shortfalls at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.”

“My client didn’t set up any fights,” Tom Yu, attorney for a director of the facility, told ABC7. “He didn’t know about any fights, so I’m not sure how they got him into this as an accomplice.”

The Los Angeles County Probation Department, which runs the juvenile detention center, hailed the attorney general’s office for the indictment and said it has been conducting its own internal inquiries.

“Our department sought the assistance of law enforcement authorities when misconduct was discovered, which eventually led to the AG’s office investigation,” the agency told the outlet. “Since then, we have fully collaborated with our partners.”