By: Karina Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
LOS ANGELES, California — On Wednesday, September 13, 2017, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was initially arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two inmates at the Century Regional Detention Facility. As of February 21, 2018, Giancarlo Scotti has been charged with sexually assaulting a total of six inmates and faces six felony counts and two misdemeanor counts of sexual activity with a detainee in a detention facility.
As a matter of state and federal law, inmates cannot legally consent to sexual intercourse with jail staff while detained.
Two of the former inmates—who have since been released from jail—have also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Their attorney, Justin Sterling, issued a statement to ABC 7 News about the charges against Scotti: “This tragedy is about more than one rogue cop. [. . .] As just one example of systematic failure, a federal law designed to prevent the sexual abuse of inmates requires local jails to undergo an audit. The LA County Sheriff’s Department has admitted that none of the jails it operates have undergone this federally mandated audit.” A month after Scotti’s arrest, he was accused of assaulting a third inmate.
When the initial charges were filed in September 2017, no LA County jail had been audited under the 2003 Federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). In October, an independent review was conducted at the request of the LA County Sheriff’s Department and found that the Century Regional Detention Facility, as well as six other detention centers, failed to meet any of the federal standards under PREA. An interim report released to the Los Angeles Times showed that jail staff is untrained in how to respond to victims of sexual assault or preserve evidence in instances of sexual assault. According to the report, “At least two Century Regional Detention Facility inmates revealed that allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment had been made to staff and summarily ignored.” Jail officials also failed to provide documentation to auditors supporting their claim to not hire anyone with a history of prior sexual misconduct.
The Sheriff’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau launched an investigation into Scotti in November 2017 and identified three additional inmates assaulted by Scotti. Detectives for the investigation interviewed 150 witnesses and submitted the case to the district attorney’s office in December.
Giancarlo Scotti has worked in his department for over ten years. He remains on paid administrative leave pending an October 2018 court appearance, and if convicted of all charges, may be sentenced up to seven years and four months in a state prison.
Similarly, in New York, lawmakers have proposed State Bill S7708 which explicitly states that anyone under arrest or otherwise detained by law enforcement is incapable of giving consent. This bill follows the September 28, 2017 incident where two plainclothes NYPD officers claimed that they had consensual sex with an 18-year old they had arrested.
For more information, please see:
Los Angeles Times – L.A. County women’s jail lags behind national standards on preventing sexual abuse, report finds – 1 April 2018
New York Daily News – State lawmakers pass bill barring cops from having sex with detainees – 31 March 2018
Los Angeles Times – Read the preliminary report about Century Regional Detention Facility and prison rape – 29 March 2018
Newsweek – Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Charged With Sexually Assaulting 6 Inmates At Women’s Facility – 22 February 2018
ABC 7 News – LA County sheriff’s deputy charged w/ sexually assaulting 6 female inmates at Lynwood facility – 21 February 2018
Los Angeles Times – L.A. County sheriff’s deputy charged with sexually assaulting 6 female inmates – 21 February 2018
Los Angeles Times – Deputy accused of sexually assaulting a third inmate inside Lynwood jail – 1 November 2017
Los Angeles Times – Sheriff’s deputy arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting 2 inmates – 14 September 2017
