Decades of child sexual abuse alleged at San Diego County facility
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The A.B. and Jessie Polinsky Children's Center in Kearny Mesa. Photo: Kate Murphy/Axios
More than 100 people are suing San Diego County, alleging decades of child sexual abuse by multiple staff members at the A.B. and Jessie Polinsky Children's Center, attorneys representing the plaintiffs announced this week.
The big picture: The series of civil lawsuits allege "pervasive abuse" stemmed from a "total lack of supervision" and an inadequate "background check and screening process" at the county-run emergency shelter for kids.
Zoom in: Plaintiffs claim they were left in "isolated and vulnerable situations where predators employed by Polinsky could abuse and harm children with impunity."
- And now, as adults, they are "still suffering from the unimaginable trauma they experienced at Polinsky."
Driving the news: The accusations are detailed in about two dozen lawsuits filed in the San Diego Superior Court over the last two years by Slater Slater Schulman LLP, a national law firm that specializes in sexual abuse cases.
- Multiple complaints allege negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
- The alleged abuse ranges from groping and molestation to repeated sexual assaults involving children ages 2 to 17 from the early 1990s through 2023. Some of the accusers are now older than 40.
Some of the plaintiffs, identified using pseudonyms John or Jane Roe followed by initials, say they faced threats of more severe and frequent abuse and physical harm if they reported the assaults or didn't submit to them.
- They were also told they would not be able to see their families or leave Polinsky, according to multiple complaints.
- No specific employees are named, but the attorney James Lewis told the Union-Tribune seven people have been identified as suspected abusers.
Context: The Polinsky Children's Center in Kearny Mesa is run by the county's Health and Human Services Agency. It temporarily houses children separated from their families for their own safety, or when parents can't care for them.
- The facility includes six residential cottages and a nursery, with the capacity to serve about 200 children.
- More than 100 kids from infants to teenagers are admitted to the center each month for up to 10 days, according to the county.
What they're saying: "It is utterly unacceptable that such heinous acts were allowed to persist in a place meant to provide safety and care … Rather than providing them a place to be loved and nurtured, the County was sending child after child into their own personal hell," the law firm's founding and managing partner Adam Slater said Wednesday in an emailed statement.
- County spokesperson Michael Workman confirmed the lawsuits were filed, but said he could not comment on pending litigation.
- Axios left a message Wednesday with the center seeking comment but had not heard back prior to publication.
- Former employees told NBC 7 they had not heard any complaints of sexual abuse at the the center, but it was understaffed, employees and volunteers were mistreated and the children were difficult to control under the circumstances.
Between the lines: The filing of some of these suits became possibleafter California's AB 218 went into effect in 2020, extending age (39 years or younger) and time limits (five years) for cases alleging childhood sexual abuse, the Union-Tribune reported.
- That law also included a three-year period that allowed adult accusers of any age to file suits alleging childhood sexual abuse.
- There is no civil statute of limitations for incidents of childhood sexual assault occurring in 2024 or later in California.