Reviewed by Survivor Rights Center · Updated 2026-10-21
Figures reflect settlement totals and the district attorney's office's own fraud estimate as reported in court filings and news coverage; the estimate is disputed by survivors' attorneys.
The county's abuse settlement is one of the largest of its kind in the country. County supervisors approved roughly $4 billion in 2025 to resolve more than 11,000 claims from people who said they were sexually abused decades ago while held in county juvenile halls, foster placements, or children's shelters. A second settlement worth about $828 million followed later that year, covering several hundred additional claimants whose cases were not part of the first round.
Under the settlement structure, a retired judge reviews each claim and assigns an award, with payments distributed over several years rather than all at once. Advocates for survivors have long argued that the multi-year structure already slows down compensation for people who, in many cases, are elderly, unwell, or facing financial hardship while they wait.
The county's district attorney's office opened a criminal investigation into whether some claims submitted in the settlement were fabricated, potentially involving claimants, lawyers, or people who recruited plaintiffs for a fee. In court filings, prosecutors argued that a preliminary review pointed to a strikingly high share of claims, as much as 81 percent by their estimate, that could turn out to be fraudulent.
That figure has been disputed. Attorneys for survivors have pushed back hard on the methodology behind it, and public reporting indicates the confirmed record so far is far smaller: a handful of paid claimants and a small number of admitted fabrications out of the more than 11,000 claims filed. No criminal charges tied to the fraud probe have been filed to date.
The district attorney's office had asked the court to pause all remaining payments for at least six months while the criminal investigation continued. The county judge rejected that request, ruling that the decision to move forward with a settlement the county itself negotiated and approved rests with the elected Board of Supervisors, not with a prosecutor's office intervening after the fact.
The judge did leave the door open to future proceedings, and the case returns to court today for additional argument. That keeps a real question alive for survivors who have already been waiting years for compensation: how much authority should an unproven fraud allegation have to hold up payment to claimants who are not personally accused of anything.
If you filed a claim in either settlement, a fraud investigation into a subset of claims does not automatically mean your own claim is under suspicion. Settlement administrators and the retired judge overseeing claim review are separate from the criminal investigation, and each claim is still evaluated individually against the settlement's own evidentiary standards.
Survivors with pending claims should keep close contact with their own attorney of record for updates on payment timing, since a dispute over one narrow slice of the settlement can still cause administrative delay for the group as a whole even when a court declines to freeze the whole fund.
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A fraud investigation touching one of the largest abuse settlements in the country raises real questions for survivors who filed legitimate claims. Here is what the record shows so far.
Not automatically. The investigation targets specific claims prosecutors believe may be fabricated. Each claim is still evaluated on its own facts through the settlement's separate claims-review process.
A court has already ruled that the decision to proceed with this settlement belongs to the county's elected supervisors, who negotiated and approved it, not to the prosecutor's office acting unilaterally.
The case returns to court for further proceedings on the dispute between the district attorney's office and the settlement's administration. Outcomes from hearings like this can affect payment timing for pending claims.
Stay in contact with your own attorney of record for case-specific updates. This article is general education, not legal advice, and specific payment timing depends on your individual claim status.
This article is general educational information, not legal advice. Confirm specifics with a licensed attorney in your state; many offer a free first consultation. If you need support now, the RAINN hotline is 800-656-4673, 24/7.
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