'Brutal Assault On A Child' Committed By Officer At LA County Juvenile Hall: DA

MALIBU, CA — A supervisor at a juvenile detention camp in Malibu has been charged with felony assault of a minor in connection to an incident in which the supervisor used excessive force to detain a 17-year-old in 2020, the district attorney's office said.

Supervising Deputy Probation Officer Oscar Cross, 59, used excessive force when he and four other deputy probation officers restrained a boy at the Los Angeles County Probation Department's Camp Kilpatrick in October 2020, LA County District Attorney George Gascón said Monday.

Gascón at a news conference said that video of the incident obtained by the Los Angeles Times was a critical piece in his office being able to change Cross.

The video shows four officers grabbing the limbs of a boy — identified by the Times only as Beckham — and forcing him onto a bed by his neck. As Beckham appeared subdued by the officers, Cross is seen in the video taking hold of the 120-pound teen's legs and bending his feet toward his head, the Times reported.

"I think it's hard to dispute when you have a video as clear as this particular video was that depicted the incident and the level of force that was being used and how unnecessary that force was," Gascón said.

Gascón said that Cross had completed a four-hour court on child abuse prevention and reporting the day before the incident.

"This was a brutal assault on a child by a person entrusted in his care while he was in (the) custody of the probation department," Gascón said.

The district attorney declined to say if any other officers will be charged. He said there are multiple ongoing investigations.

Former Probation Department chief Adolfo Gonzales ignored recommendations to fire Cross or provide the video to prosecutors; the DA's office and LA County Office of Inspector General became aware of the case only after the Times' report — three years after the incident, the Times reported.

Gonzales was fired by the LA County Board of Supervisors a month after the Times' report. Supervisors Chair Janice Hahn said the county's juvenile halls "are in crisis" and a "void in leadership starting from the top has allowed this situation to fester."

"Our board's decision to terminate Chief Gonzales is only the first step of a long road to fixing our juvenile halls and supporting the youth in our care and the staff who work with them," Hahn said in a statement.

Cross has been charged with assault under the color of authority. He faces a maximum of three years in county jail if he's convicted.

City News Service contributed to this report.