A then-deputy probation officer pleaded not guilty Thursday to assaulting three teenage inmates at a juvenile hall in Sylmar.
Timothy Boundy, 41, is charged with three counts of assault under the color of authority for the alleged assaults between October 2015 and April 2016.
Boundy’s court appearance came one day after Sergio Cano, a supervising deputy probation officer, pleaded not guilty to one count of assault under the color of authority for allegedly ordering one of the attacks.
Cano, 45, was not physically involved in the altercation last April 25 on a teenage boy who suffered moderate injuries, according to Greg Risling of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
In a statement released Wednesday, Chief Probation Officer Terri McDonald said the Los Angeles County Probation Department “is fully cooperating” in the investigation of allegations against three probation officers “accused of using excessive force against a juvenile detainee at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar.”
McDonald said one of the three surrendered Wednesday to authorities and the other two were “ordered to appear in court, as well.” Prosecutors, however, have not disclosed whether any charges have been filed against the third employee.
“Of the three employees, two are no longer employed by the department, and the third is on leave,” McDonald said. “Since this incident came to light, the Probation Department also has initiated a sweeping internal investigation that has turned up seven other force incidents at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in which employees appear to have acted outside of policy by using unauthorized or excessive force, being misleading/untruthful, or both. The department is pursuing administrative action against employees involved in these incidents.”
Probation officials refused to specify which employee was on leave and which two were no longer with the department, but Cano’s attorney, Winston Kevin McKesson, told reporters Wednesday that his client — a 15-year veteran of the probation department — was on administrative leave.
McKesson said he believed there was “insufficient evidence to show that my client did anything wrong.”
Deputy District Attorney Ann Marie Wise told a judge Wednesday that the assault last April 25 was caught on video, and alleged that Cano was “present for the entire thing.”
Along with the April incident, Boundy is charged with assaulting a teenage boy, whom he allegedly grabbed, threw to the ground and hit on Oct. 8, 2015, and a Feb. 8, 2016, assault on another teen after the youth tried to leave his room.
Boundy could face up to four years and four months in state prison if convicted of the charges, while Cano could face up to three years behind bars.
Both men are due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom April 11.
The case is the second filed in recent months against a Los Angeles County deputy probation officer.
Oscar David Calderon Jr., 33, pleaded not guilty Jan. 26 in connection with allegations that he fondled four teenage girls at a juvenile camp in Santa Clarita. He is charged with two counts of committing a lewd act on a child and four counts of assault by a public officer.
— City News Service