Claim Filed Against County in Abuse Cases

A lawyer for four children who were allegedly molested by a former Los Angeles County social worker has filed a $24-million claim against the county, alleging that social worker Gerald Davis accosted the youngsters on county time and that officials at the Department of Children’s Services failed to respond to warnings about his behavior.

Davis pleaded no contest on September 7 to 20 counts of felony molestation involving seven children, including two of the four filing the claim. He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Superior Court in Long Beach.

Davis worked as a supervisor in the East Los Angeles office of the Department of Children’s Services until his arrest in July. A year before his dismissal, he wrote two letters to county supervisors in which he argued that sexual activity between adults and children is natural and should not be treated as a crime.

Roger Kander, the lawyer who is bringing the claim for the four children, maintained that if the county had investigated the letters and removed Davis from his job, the molestations might not have occurred. But Assistant County Counsel S. Robert Ambrose said there was “no merit whatsoever” to Kander’s claim.

Kander said he plans to file suit if the claim is denied by the county.