More Child Sexual Abuse at Rancho San Antonio, Chatsworth, CA

Rancho San Antonio Boys Home in Chatsworth, CA, a nearly 100-year-old youth facility for troubled teens, has been the subject of child sexual abuse allegations over the last several decades. We learned of the latest concerns just last week.

On May 29, 2026, the LA Times reported that at least two teenage boys, both under the age of 16, were sexually abused by adult female staff at the facility earlier this year. An attorney for one of the minor victims filed a notice of claim with LA County on May 4, 2026.

According to reports of the claim, one employee sexually abused a 15-year-old boy over a period of 5 months. The alleged abuse occurred both at Rancho San Antonio and at the victim’s private residence. Allegedly, another female staffer sexually abused a different boy at the facility and became pregnant.

The notice of claim suggests there may also be other victims, noting “a broader pattern of inappropriate and abusive relationships between staff and minors at Rancho San Antonio.”

As a result of the recent allegations, Rancho San Antonio and the LA County Probation Department have reportedly paused all new youth transfers into the facility. Meanwhile the Los Angeles Police Department has allegedly launched a criminal investigation.

Rancho San Antonio is no stranger to sexual abuse allegations, having faced numerous lawsuits in the 2000s related to abuse committed by a religious order of Catholic priests known as the Brothers of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. Notable perpetrators from the facility who have been publicly named in connection with past abuse allegations include Lawrence Sandstrom, Donald J. Dufour, Dan Dobbins, Richard Hurley, and Lawrence Rodie. Demarco Law Firm’s founder, Anthony M. DeMarco, Esq., was one of the attorneys involved in these prior cases.

Founded in 1933 by Catholic Big Brothers in Redondo Beach and later moving to Chatsworth, Rancho San Antonio adopted the nickname “Boys Town of the West,” invoking the famous Nebraska institution founded by Father Edward J. Flanagan. For many decades, the facility was owned by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and administered by the Brothers of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. The facility is now incorporated separately as Rancho San Antonio Boys Home, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It has been operating under an L.A. County Probation Department contract since 2008.

If you or anyone you know has suffered abuse at Rancho San Antonio, or any other similar youth programs or facilities, we may be able to help. Please contact us.

Further Reading:

• Article: Staffer got pregnant after abusing teen at L.A. County youth home, legal claim says [LA Times]
• Article: LA youth home staffer ends up pregnant in alleged abuse of teens [NY Post]
• LA County Department of Mental Health facility page for Rancho San Antonio [Web link]
• LA County Probation Department Compliance Report for Rancho San Antonio, 2016 [PDF]
• Rancho San Antonio Boys Home Inc 2007 Articles of Incorporation [PDF]
• Rancho San Antonio website
• Rancho San Antonio Facebook
• Rancho San Antonio Instagram