More than three dozen past and current inmates have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging male Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies sexually abused, harassed and routinely watched women shower in the solitary confinement module inside Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.
The lawsuit, filed in late October by 38 women, states the abuse is so widespread that an area next to the showers in the administrative segregation module — commonly referred to as “the hole” — is designated as the “cop shop” by female inmates and correctional officers.
All of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit were housed in CRDF from 2006 to 2025.
Viewing area referred to as ‘cop shop’
The officers within the “cop shop” can easily see and make eye contact with women in the showers, according to attorney Brian Dunn.
“From the vantage point of the ‘cop shop,’ male correctional officers, during working hours, routinely engage in frequent and prolonged unobstructed viewing of the entire nude bodies of female inmates taking showers in a matter unrelated to any legitimate penological purpose,” Dunn wrote.
Dunn further alleges female inmates have been subjected to sexual abuse during escorts to the showers.
Some officers “walk behind them so closely as to intentionally press their crotches against the handcuffed hands of the female inmates in a sexual manner, during which time male guards routinely and intentionally fondle the inmates’ hips, buttocks, and bodies in a sexual manner while escorting them to the shower stalls,” Dunn wrote.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges, deputies intentionally set water temperatures at a “scalding or near scalding level” to force the women to “squirm erratically to avoid the pain generated from the hot water while showering.”
The lawsuit states some of the inmates were retaliated against after filing grievances. A sergeant reportedly told one of the plaintiffs that her complaint “doesn’t matter” and that he would “back up my deputies 100%.”
CRDF held about 1,450 women as of Monday, Dec. 29. The lawsuit estimates about 30 to 50 women are housed in the administrative segregation module on any given day and would be subject to the privacy violations.
‘Zero-tolerance policy’
In a statement, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it is aware of the allegations, but has not yet been served with the lawsuit.
“The Department takes all allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse of authority, and violations of Department policy extremely seriously,” the statement reads. “The Department maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of sexual abuse or harassment within its facilities.”
Under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the facility is required to implement policies and procedures that allow inmates to shower, use the restroom and change clothing without nonmedical staff of the opposite gender viewing them.
The department follows a multistep investigative process whenever a PREA allegation is reported, according to the statement.
“Once we are made aware of an allegation, a supervisor conducts a preliminary inquiry to gather key information, address immediate safety concerns, and then the case is assigned to a PREA Compliance Investigator for a full investigation,” the department stated. “Upon learning of the allegations described in the lawsuit, the Department initiated a review of the claims to ensure that all appropriate investigative and administrative processes were followed.”
Complaints surface during inspections
Members of the Sybil Brand Commission, which inspects the county’s jails, received and forwarded complaints about privacy in the showers at CRDF during four of their eight visits to the facility this year, according to inspection reports.
A woman in October told commissioners she had filed a PREA complaint against a deputy for “voyeuristic behavior” while she showered. Multiple reports were made about a deputy observing women showering and making them wait unclothed before returning to their cells. The women expressed concerns about reporting it due to fear of retaliation.
Similar reports were made in August and September.
In June, inmates in one module complained that staff “will stand at the top of the module” and “watch people shower for multiple minutes at a time.”
“SBC Commissioners noted that the shower was in clear view if a staff person stood at the top of the module as described,” commissioners wrote in the report.
The new lawsuit was first reported by the Los Angeles Times. In November, the Times reported that of the 592 inmate claims of sexual abuse or harassment filed against deputies since 2021, none was deemed “substantiated” or referred to county prosecutors.
In a statement, the department said it had “investigated more than 500 allegations and found no evidence of wrongdoing.”
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