There have been no “substantiated” allegations of staff sexually abusing inmates in the nation’s largest prison system so far in 2021.
At first glance, the statistic, which is based on data from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, appears to suggest that a federal law called the Prison Rape Elimination Act has finally accomplished its mission, more than two decades after it was enacted by Congress.
But many local oversight officials and advocacy groups have expressed displeasure with the claims and new scrutiny of how the Sheriff’s Department investigates sexual abuse claims made by inmates against jailers.
Los Angeles County incarcerates about 13,000 people, including about 1,500 women, in its jail network, which is guarded by deputy sheriffs.
Sheriff’s department records show that between January 2022 and September 2025, inmates made 592 allegations of abuse and harassment of staff. None are considered “substantiated,” which the Sheriff’s Department defines on its website as “allegations that have been investigated and determined to have occurred.”
For nearly four years, there has not been enough evidence to support even one alleged incident involving a staff member against an inmate, a claim that some who oversee the Sheriff’s Department find ridiculous.
“When there are so many complaints and zero substantiated complaints, there’s something wrong with the entire process,” said George B. Newhouse, a member of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission.
The Los Angeles County Office of the Inspector General and advocacy groups including the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and Peace Against Violence also expressed concern about the lack of substantiation during a Nov. 4 virtual discussion on the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). The law was enacted in 2003 to reduce widespread sexual abuse in prisons.
In 2012, the federal government established a set of rules called the PREA Standards, which set out the steps prison and jail administrators must take to prevent and reduce sexual abuse and harassment among prisoners and staff.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Ryan Vaccaro said the department has “zero tolerance for sexual abuse and harassment.” He added that the prison holds monthly town hall meetings to educate inmates about PREA and document any questions and complaints they have about federal standards.
“Our team is committed to ensuring our residents know we have a zero-tolerance policy and know how to get help if they need it,” he said. “All PREA allegations were documented and dealt with promptly, thoroughly and objectively.”
At a public meeting last month, Civilian Oversight Board Chairman Hans Johnson urged Sheriff’s Department Assistant Director and PREA Coordinator John Buckley to explain the lack of substantiated reports and how long it typically takes to investigate allegations.
Dozens of allegations of harassment and abuse found in Sheriff’s Department records are listed as “pending,” which the department defines on its website as “allegations that remain under investigation.”
“It’s a little mind-boggling that so many complaints have been made and none of them have been substantiated,” Johnson said. “It’s just a red flag.”
Buckley said “every case is investigated” and results are either “substantiated, unsubstantiated or unfounded.” “Every situation is different. What we want to do is investigate quickly and thoroughly,” he said.
In a statement read aloud by a colleague at a Nov. 4 forum in Portland, Ore., resident Frank Mendoza said that while he was incarcerated at Los Angeles’ Twin Towers Correctional Facility in 2006, “officers in the prison harassed me multiple times because I was openly gay,” and that one of them beat and raped him in his cell.
“I was then left in the cell, naked, covered in blood and completely humiliated,” Mendoza said in the statement. “I tried to report what happened. First, I told the officer on the next shift who found me on the floor of the cell and all he did was order me to get dressed. This is the norm. Officers do not snitch on each other.”
Mendoza claims he was not given medical treatment or examined for injuries caused by the attack. When he reported the crime, he discovered that “it would be impossible to open a criminal case without a forensic examination.”
Now, Mendoza is a voice for other victims of sexual abuse and harassment while incarcerated through her advocacy work as a member of the International Committee of Survivors for Justice in Detention.
“It’s clear that the county has a lot of work to do to ensure the safety of detainees,” he said. “At the same time, having hearings like this is evidence to me that the culture has shifted and people are listening.”
The Sheriff’s Department also tracks allegations among inmates, including 296 reports of sexual abuse or harassment that occurred between January 2022 and June 2025. Of those, 28 were listed as “confirmed.”
The numbers have since surged, with 82 prisoner-on-prisoner accusations between July and September 2025. Of the allegations, the department considered five to be “substantiated” involving sexual abuse and five to allegations of sexual harassment.
During that three-month period, inmates made 121 allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against staff, but the Sheriff’s Department has not deemed the allegations “substantiated.”
Arthur Calloway, co-vice president of the Civilian Oversight Board, asked at the October meeting whether the Sheriff’s Department could be trusted to investigate inmate allegations made by its employees.
He added that “if this were all objective, there would actually be some substantiated evidence emerging from the claims filed since January 2022”.
Buckley responded that “many of these” unsubstantiated findings “depend on whether the district attorney takes the case.” He added, “If the DA decides not to prosecute this case, it will be an unproven case.”
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that the Sheriff’s Department first conducted an internal investigation into the allegations of criminal activity. The department “may then refer the findings to our Justice System Integrity Division (JSID) to determine whether criminal charges should be brought,” the statement said.
The Sheriff’s Department also has the option to “submit administrative sanctions against its employees in addition to, or in lieu of, seeking criminal charges,” the statement said.
The prosecutor’s office noted that “proven” and “unproven” are terms used by the Sheriff’s Department for “administrative purposes” rather than legal consequences.
“JSID reviews all cases brought to them by law enforcement based on whether the charges can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” the District Attorney’s Office said.
The Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that sexual abuse cases are investigated internally and when “it is determined that elements of a crime are met,” they are “referred to the District Attorney’s Office.”
The department said that since January 2022, the department’s Internal Criminal Investigation Bureau has “opened administrative investigations into four such cases, five of which are/are under investigation.” None of this is considered “confirmed.”
“Substantiated charges often require cooperation and some kind of evidence, which can make them more challenging,” the Sheriff’s Department said. “However, unsubstantiated accusations are more common because the threshold is lower.”
“It would be much better if all complaints were investigated by someone outside the chain of command,” said Assistant Inspector Dara Williams.
Otherwise, she said, there’s going to be some bias when Sheriff’s Department employees decide “what triggers an investigation.”
Inspector General Max Huntsman told the Times that he believed the Sheriff’s Department “failed to comply with PREA in a number of areas,” such as its internal policies and physical conditions at aging correctional facilities.
At a public meeting last month, Buckley, the Sheriff’s Department’s PREA coordinator, explained that deputies are required to record every sexual abuse and harassment allegation they receive at the end of their shift in a dedicated database. After that, he said, charges will automatically be sent to Sheriff leadership and the Office of the Inspector General.
At the end of the meeting, Johnson, chairman of the civilian oversight board, called on the Sheriff’s Department to take steps to ensure a fair and thorough review of all inmate charges.
“Reports of unconfirmed cases are unacceptable,” he said.
