Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
A Los Angeles County probation supervisor was charged with using excessive force against a teenager after a video was made public of the moment in which officers subdue a young man, announced Monday the County District Attorney George Gascon.
Supervisor Oscar Cross, 59, was charged with one count of assault while in authority.
The incident occurred in October 2020 at the Camp Kilpatrick facility.from the probation department in Malibu.
Gascón stated that his office became aware of the incident after it was published in the Los Angeles Times earlier this year.
Supposedly, Cross used excessive force when he and four other deputy probation officers attempted to subdue a teenage boy..
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On the recording, screams of pain can be heard as the probation supervisor bends the youth’s legs toward his headaction that Gascón considered as going too far.
“This was a brutal assault on a young man by a caretaker while he was in the custody of the probation department,” Gascón said Monday at a press conference.
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The teen, who was 17 at the time of the assault, apparently argued with officers.. In the video, the officers can be seen on top of the young man when they tried to hold him down.
Gascón said that even after the teen was handcuffed, the supervisor continued to hold the teen’s legs back despite the victim’s cries of pain.
“We are telling the families of our justice-involved youth that we will not tolerate harm and we will not tolerate child abuse, not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath.
It is not known if Cross was sanctioned at the time the incident occurred or if you were suspended.
It’s a statement, the probation department said it had no comment regarding pending litigation.
“We have a zero tolerance policy regarding sexual abuse, sexual harassment and the unnecessary use of force against our youth. Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of the youth in our care, as well as the safety of our staff who work with them,” the department said in its writing.
Gascón mentioned that one day before the incident, Cross had completed the required training on preventing and reporting child abuse.
If found guilty, Cross could be sentenced to three years in a Los Angeles County jail..
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