$20-million claim filed in O.C. jail beating death

The father of an inmate stomped to death in an Orange County jail has filed a $20-million claim alleging that sheriff’s guards instigated the attack by prisoners against his son.

John Chamberlain, 41, was killed Oct. 5 at Theo Lacy Jail in Orange.

This week his father, George Chamberlain, 79, of Chino Valley, Ariz., filed the claim alleging that guards allowed influential inmates known as “shot callers” to review his son’s paperwork showing that he was jailed on misdemeanor possession of child pornography. The guards also may have erroneously told one or more inmates that John Chamberlain was a child molester.

Claims for damages are usually precursors to lawsuits.

Hours before the attack, according to the father’s account, John Chamberlain’s public defender called jail officials warning that his client was in danger and urging that he be placed in protective custody.

Chamberlain was severely kicked while in the showers later that day by a large group of inmates, then dragged -- apparently unnoticed by guards -- to another section of the jail where the beating continued.

Following the attack, a sheriff’s official told The Times, the inmates had time to wash their jumpsuits to get rid of blood and other evidence before guards learned of the attack.

Authorities subsequently filed murder charges against six inmates.

The sheriff’s investigation of the matter drew criticism because Sheriff Michael S. Carona decided to abandon a long-standing policy that jail deaths be referred to investigators in the district attorney’s office.

In response to Chamberlain’s claim, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said Thursday: “We take every precaution to protect each and every inmate, but jails are dangerous places merely because of the occupants. It’s almost impossible to watch all inmates 24 hours a day.”

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garrett.therolf@latimes.com