Former L.A. probation guard gets year in jail

A former Los Angeles County Probation Department guard convicted of child abuse for letting five minors beat a boy she wrongly believed had taken her cellphone was sentenced Wednesday to a year in jail.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Judith L. Champagne also ordered Diane Buchanan to serve four years probation, saying that she showed no remorse for her actions in the May 2005 assault at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar. Champagne said that even after the assault Buchanan sought no medical treatment for the victim and left him alone in his cell until the next day.

“What if he had been seriously concussed? What if he had died?” Champagne asked Buchanan.

After deliberating for two hours, a jury last month convicted Buchanan of child abuse, corporal injury to a child and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

According to prosecutors, Buchanan, 38, lost her cellphone and ordered a search that led one youth to accuse the victim of flushing it down a toilet. She then let five youths into the victim’s cell, where they kicked and punched him for two or three minutes, leaving him with swelling on the side of his face. Buchanan later found her cellphone in her car, prosecutors said.

Buchanan’s attorney, Thomas Meseareau, told the judge before sentencing that his client was “almost legendary in her community for helping kids” and that she had been destroyed by the case. He argued for a lenient sentence.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Natalie Adomian said Buchanan deserved to go to state prison because she had shown no remorse in a probation sentencing report and blamed everyone except herself, including the jurors.

The judge said she was not surprised by the jury’s verdict, saying that Buchanan’s defense that boys from different races and backgrounds had conspired against her “made no sense.” Champagne also questioned the credibility of the defense witnesses and accused one of being “rude to everyone in this courtroom.” The judge openly questioned whether that guard should be looking after children.

Buchanan will serve her time in the jail of her choosing because of safety concerns.

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richard.winton@latimes.com