Five teenage juvenile offenders are suing San Mateo County, California for the sexual abuse they suffered at an adolescent boy’s home by an employee at the facility.

The lawsuit alleges that the county failed to protect the boys from the sexual predator Cardell Demond Brown, a known felon employed by Project 90, a non-profit group that the county contracted to provide boys rehab services – and neglected to notice signs that the boys were being molested by Brown.

The lawsuit also names Project 90 for hiring and supervising Brown without bothering to check his credentials.

As expected whenever children are abused, no time is being wasted by the people concerned, before washing their hands of the whole sordid affair. Project 90 was quick to point out it was not really their fault since they don’t hire people unless they are screened by the state’s criminal justice system, and since Brown passed through that safety check, he was assumed to be perfectly safe. Management and staff, according to Project 90s CEO Jim Stanberry, are trained to observe and notice if “anything out of the ordinary” was happening at the facility, and then report it to the organization.

Well, if that’s part of their modus operandi for keeping children in their care safe, then obviously there’s a big hole in that part of the plan. Because Brown not only managed to sneak though the system and right into the midst of a entire facility full of young boys, but also managed to escape the “watchful” eyes of the staff who had been trained to spot people like him. With all the agonizing and excruciating testimonies coming out of the clergy abuse trials in California, you would have thought people in charge of kids would have wised up and gotten a better handle on how to protect children, but sadly it seems nothing has changed.

San Mateo County, on its part, is equally keen on passing the buck. “Not our fault”, was the general response. Brown was not technically an employee of the county; he was an employee of the independent contractor, in this case, Project 90. It seems so much like a panic-stricken knee jerk reaction of “Not my fault, it was him,” it’s not even funny.

Meanwhile, Inside Bay Area reports, the five boys, who reported being forced to perform just about every sexual act known to man and then some on an adult, are pressing ahead with their case.

If you or your child has been the victim of an attack or abuse in the past, you need an experienced California personal injury lawyer on your side. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.