L.A. County probation supervisor to face charges in assault of teen

VIDEO | 02:40

L.A. County probation officer is accused of using excessive force against teen in 2020 video

July 24, 2023 Updated 4:14 PM PT

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed a felony excessive force charge against a county probation supervisor in connection with a 2020 incident captured on video, Dist. Atty. George Gascón announced Monday, calling the incident a “brutal” attack against an unarmed teen.

Gascón said his office had been unaware of the incident — in which several officers piled on top of the youth before the supervisor bent his legs backward over his head — until The Times published video of the incident at Camp Kilpatrick in Malibu. The district attorney’s office launched an investigation into the case after the video and story ran in February.

“It was a brutal assault on a child by a person entrusted with his care while he was in custody,” Gascón said in announcing the charge against probation supervisor Oscar Cross. “When a minor commits a crime within the halls, we hold them accountable. We will do this for those responsible for protecting them.”

Although video of the incident had drawn concern among other probation officers for years — with some referring to it as “child abuse” — former Probation Department Chief Adolfo Gonzales ignored recommendations to fire Cross or provide the video to prosecutors. The district attorney’s office and L.A. County Office of Inspector General became aware of the case only after The Times report.

In the video, Cross can be seen arguing with a then-17-year-old boy identified as Beckham. The boy told The Times he was hungry and was searching in a common area for food, but all he found was a milk carton. He tossed the container, sparking an argument with officers.

During the melee, four officers can be seen grabbing the boy’s limbs, forcing him facedown onto a bed by his neck and placing a knee in his back, according to the video. Beckham’s body twitches as he is restrained.

Roughly one minute into the conflict, with Beckham appearing to be subdued by the other officers, Cross grabs the 120-pound teen’s legs and begins to bend his feet toward his head.

“Mamá, Mamá,” Beckham screams.

Michael Carrillo, an attorney for Beckham, called the charges “the first step towards achieving justice against one of the individuals involved in the brutal attack on Beckham. However, we hope this is the first of many filings against those involved in the excessive and brutal attack suffered by our client. “

Carrillo said he plans on announcing a federal civil rights lawsuit on Beckham’s behalf soon and hopes “that the County of Los Angeles will acknowledge their role in covering up the incident and ratifying such heinous conduct by former Probation Department Chief Adolfo Gonzales.”

Cross remains out of custody but is expected to surrender at an arraignment to be scheduled in the near future, said Tiffiny Blacknell, director of communications for the district attorney’s office.

“Mr. Cross is a great man and an outstanding public servant,” his attorney Kevin McKesson, said in an e-mail. “Looking forward to proving his innocence.”

The Probation Department would not comment on Cross’ employment with the county Monday. He was still a supervisor in the facility where the alleged abuse occurred as of February.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and unnecessary use of force against our youths,” the department said in a statement Monday. “Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of the young people in our care, as well as the safety of our staff who work with them.”

If convicted, Cross faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison. It was unclear Monday whether the other officers in the video will be charged. Gascón said the investigation is ongoing.

Gonzales chose not to fire Cross despite being advised to do so by a unanimous vote of an internal Probation Department disciplinary board. He said he reached his decision after a “review of the evidence, consideration of the officer’s service record and input from SEIU local 721,” the union that represents Probation Department supervisors.

A spokeswoman for the union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an interview with The Times this year, Beckham said that, after the incident, he was taken to the camp nurse, who gave him medicine to calm him. Records show he was not treated for serious injuries, but he remembered being terrified during the incident and didn’t understand why the officers became so violent.

Beckham had never seen the video until a Times reporter shared it with his family this year.

“That makes me mad,” he said, his hand in a fist. “I don’t like what they do, but when you’re in there, they’re in charge. … It’s very ugly, isn’t it?”

Beckham, now 19, remembers fearing his leg would break.

“When I’m screaming, it’s because I couldn’t breathe,” he said.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to fire Gonzales less than a month after the Times report on the incident.

The report seemed to be the last straw for Gonzales, whose tenure leading the agency was marked by a surge in violence and a staffing crisis in the juvenile halls, as well as repeated findings from a state oversight body that the county’s halls were “unsuitable” to house youths.

Beckham’s family praised Gascón’s decision to charge Cross in a brief interview Monday.

“I’m happy that they’re charging him, and hopefully they will convict him, because he should be punished. You don’t treat kids that way,” said Beckham’s aunt, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.

L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, whose district includes the camp where the incident took place, said she was disgusted by what she saw on the video and again chastised Gonzales for failing to disclose the video to oversight agencies.

She will introduce a motion to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday calling on the Probation Department to create a policy mandating the reporting of “critical incidents,” including uses of force, to outside bodies such as the county Office of Inspector General and the Probation Oversight Commission.

“Supervisor Cross’ actions should have resulted in an immediate dismissal, not a slap on the wrist, not a covering up of this abusive behavior,” she said.

Franky Carrillo, a member of the oversight commission who previously was incarcerated in the county juvenile halls and said he suffered abuse there, teared up as he spoke Monday, wondering how many similar incidents had gone unreported.

“I think about the fact that there was a camera in this incident,” he said. “And there wasn’t one in mine.”

Times staff writer Rebecca Ellis contributed to this report.