Many people who say they were raped or sexually abused while confined in California's juvenile facilities are too early to sue the county governments that oversaw their care.

On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would change the statute of limitations to give people who were sexually abused in juvenile facilities more time to sue. His decision infuriated victims' advocates, who accused him of bowing to pressure from local officials concerned about how to pay for the onslaught of legal fees.

This bill is 2020 State Law Changes This opened a three-year window in which victims could file a lawsuit if the statute of limitations had expired. For sexual abuse that occurred before 2024, victims typically have until age 40 or five years after discovering a mental health condition related to the abuse to file a lawsuit.

The 2020 changes led to a flood of lawsuits against organizations across California, particularly the Catholic Church, school districts, and local governments.

Alarmed by the number of lawsuits involving Los Angeles County's juvenile facility network, Rep. Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) introduced a bill that would suspend for one year the statute of limitations for people to sue over sexual abuse. . in juvenile detention centers and probation offices across the state.

veto bills passed by the state House and Senate; Newsom claimed It would have encouraged similar efforts to circumvent the statute of limitations, including in cases where “key evidence” has been lost, it said.

John Manley hard She represented victims in sexual abuse cases involving the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles Archdiocese, and said the veto was a “slap in the face” to the victims and a “gift” to the abusers. said.

“His tone-deaf and inaccurate veto message sounds like something the Catholic bishops would come up with in their ongoing efforts to protect pedophile priests,” Manley said in a statement.

Newsom previously signed a bill creating a similar window for lawsuits from George's victims at the University of Southern California. Tyndall and UCLA's james heapsboth gynecologists were accused of widespread sexual abuse.

“He had no problem moving forward with other cases,” says John, who worked on the Tyndall case and now represents about 200 plaintiffs suing Los Angeles County for sexual abuse. said attorney Mike Arias. “He was just put under pressure that he didn't want to endure.”

The main public opposition to the bill comes from Los Angeles County, which has recently been sued by thousands of adults alleging rape, sexual abuse, and fondling by staff at the county's juvenile facility. There is.

Fecia Davenport, CEO of Los Angeles County, which prepares the county's budget, said in an interview last week that the financial costs of recent sexual abuse lawsuits could cause the county to reduce services and possibly lay off staff in the near future. He said he believes he may be forced to lay off his employees.

Last year, county officials said it could cost between $1.6 billion and $3 billion to resolve sexual abuse claims from an estimated 3,000 plaintiffs. The number of plaintiffs has since grown to more than 5,600, Davenport said.

“Whatever it is, we can't afford it,” she said.

Davenport said the settlement would have to be accounted for in the next budget cycle, which would require “significantly more stress” than when county revenues were reduced during the pandemic.

County attorneys say it's difficult to bring forward decades-old lawsuits because records no longer exist to support even the most basic allegations.

“We're racking our brains and trying to figure this out in real time,” said Jason Gonzalez, the county's attorney.

But lawyers for the plaintiffs argue the county should be held responsible for abuses that occurred under its watch.

“That's been kind of their mantra all along: 'Services are going to be cut. People are going to lose their jobs,'” Doug Rochen said. His firm represents about 1,400 people who say they were sexually abused as children while in L.A. County custody. “That's fine, but we shouldn't have tolerated rampant sexual abuse.” [that] It had been going on for decades. ”

Wicks' office did not respond to a request for comment on the governor's veto. She previously told colleagues at a June meeting that she wanted to pass the bill “in a way that doesn't cripple local government,” and that she would work with L.A. County to find a satisfactory solution. He said he would cooperate.

“But the fact remains that there were many young people who were victims,” she said at the time. “We need to find a way to fix it.”