Los Angeles Injury Attorney Blog

In March 2010, an anonymous tipster hand-delivered 11 DVDs containing more than 100 hours of videotape at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau in Monterey Park, showing videos that appear to be 10 female patients at residential care facilities being raped. From the videos, which have not been released, it is unclear when or where the assaults took place, although authorities believe the acts occurred within the last three years. Veteran investigators assigned to the case called the content "extremely disturbing" and "shocking to the conscience," and say this is one of the worst cases of abuse of defenseless victims they have ever investigated.

Some of the videos appear to come from surveillance videos, while others appear to come from handheld cameras. Investigators believe the perpetrators were employed by residential care facilities and that the victims were sexually assaulted at residential care facilities.

After months of investigation, detectives say they are coming closer to identifying the suspects. Los Angeles Police Detectives reportedly contacted sheriff's detectives this week and said they recognized one of the suspects, Bert Hicks (pictured at far left in the image above) and possibly a second man, whose identity was not released. Sheriff's officials said January 7th that they've identified two of the men suspected in the case. Hicks, 42, is currently serving a sentence at Tehachapi State Prison for sexual assault, and is up for parole in 2012.

Anyone with information about the assaults was asked to contact the Special Victims Bureau at (866) 247-5877. Sheriff's officials said they would also like to talk to the anonymous tipster who dropped off the footage at the Monterey station, promising the person could remain anonymous.

Sexual Abuse Victims' Rights

These incidents are shocking and disturbing, and raise so many questions. Who filmed the videos? Who knew about these multiple instances of abuse and turned a blind eye? Were background checks performed on these employees that allegedly committed the acts of abuse at residential care facilities? While this investigation is ongoing, the family members of the victims of these shocking crimes would be well-advised to contact a Los Angeles sexual abuse lawyer as soon as possible. While nothing can be done to make the pain of these horrific acts go away, a lawyer can ensure the victims are compensated for the undoubtedly horrendous emotional pain and trauma they've endured and ensure that other victims do not suffer the same injustices in the future.