December 1st, 2012
Zoom Police ignored, mishandled sex assaults reported by disabled Patients at California’s board-and-care centers for the developmentally disabled have accused caretakers of molestation and rape 36 times during the past four years. Only one arrest has been made.  The latest story in our Broken Shield investigation uncovers shocking cases of alleged abuse at the state’s five developmental centers that were ignored or mishandled by the state-run police force assigned to protect them. Read the full story to learn more.  Image taken from our new video graphic novel “In Jennifer’s Room,” telling one young disabled woman’s heartbreaking story.

Police ignored, mishandled sex assaults reported by disabled

Patients at California’s board-and-care centers for the developmentally disabled have accused caretakers of molestation and rape 36 times during the past four years. Only one arrest has been made. 

The latest story in our Broken Shield investigation uncovers shocking cases of alleged abuse at the state’s five developmental centers that were ignored or mishandled by the state-run police force assigned to protect them. Read the full story to learn more. 

Image taken from our new video graphic novel “In Jennifer’s Room,” telling one young disabled woman’s heartbreaking story.

4 notes·
sonoma developmental center
Broken shield
August 5th, 2012
Questions surround handling of Taser assaults on disabled patients Someone using a stun gun like a cattle prod assaulted a dozen severely disabled patients at the Sonoma Developmental Center last fall, inflicting painful thermal burns on their buttocks, arms, legs and backs. The center’s in-house police force, the Office of Protective Services, had a suspect from the start: Archie Millora (pictured here at a firing range), a caregiver at the Sonoma center. After the assaults were discovered, OPS made no arrest, deciding instead to handle it as an administrative matter. Also, detectives still had not interviewed Millora nine days after the revelations. So what happened? Read reporter Ryan Gabrielson’s full investigation, a part of our ongoing Broken Shield series, here.  This photo was posted Oct. 1, 2009, on Archie Millora’s Facebook page.

Questions surround handling of Taser assaults on disabled patients

Someone using a stun gun like a cattle prod assaulted a dozen severely disabled patients at the Sonoma Developmental Center last fall, inflicting painful thermal burns on their buttocks, arms, legs and backs.

The center’s in-house police force, the Office of Protective Services, had a suspect from the start: Archie Millora (pictured here at a firing range), a caregiver at the Sonoma center.

After the assaults were discovered, OPS made no arrest, deciding instead to handle it as an administrative matter. Also, detectives still had not interviewed Millora nine days after the revelations.

So what happened? Read reporter Ryan Gabrielson’s full investigation, a part of our ongoing Broken Shield series, here. 

This photo was posted Oct. 1, 2009, on Archie Millora’s Facebook page.

Office of Protective Services
Broken Shield
California
Sonoma Developmental Center
news
Investigative Journalism
Loading tweets...

@CaliforniaWatch

California Watch, the largest investigative journalism team operating in the state, was launched in 2009 by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Investigative Reporting. Areas of coverage include education, health and welfare, public safety, the environment and the influence of money on the political and regulatory process.

Networks