Orange County to pay $4.5 million to settle claim social services failed to report alleged child sexual abuse

An Orange County mother of two turned to social services when she suspected something was awry with her young boys in 2011.

While at preschool, her 4-year-old son simulated sex acts a child his age shouldn’t comprehend — alarming his teacher.

The mother’s plea for help prompted a visit from a county social worker. The child said he had been inappropriately touched by a longtime family friend.

The mother’s husband, separated and living with his parents, claimed the story was a ruse to secure sole custody of the boy and his 1-year-old brother.

The social worker ultimately found the allegations lacking and closed the case. But that was far from the end of the ordeal.

In a closed-session meeting last week, Orange County supervisors voted 4 to 1 to pay the mother $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit she filed against the county in August 2018.

According to court documents, the mother alleged negligence by county workers and that they failed to contact authorities to investigate the allegations, as was required.

That misstep, the mother alleged, led to years of additional sexual abuse by Alex Padilla Beltran, 56, who was eventually arrested in 2018.

“It’s been a long road for the boys who didn’t even realize at the very beginning what was going on,” said the mother’s attorney, Christopher Taylor of Pasadena-based Taylor Labor Law. “They’ve been stressed about it and this trial.”

A friend of the family for 20 years, Beltran initially admitted he had pinched the 4-year-old's butt but characterized it as nothing more than “roughhousing,” according to court documents.

The mother, however, alleged the incident was part of a pattern in which Beltran would abuse the boys when they were left in his care while their father went out to drink, court records show.

Beltran remains in custody at the Theo Lacy Facility. He is awaiting trial on 26 counts of sexual abuse over a 17-year period dating back to 2000 including alleged lewd and lascivious acts with minors.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

https://news.yahoo.com/orange-county-pay-4-5-120055944.html