SYLMAR, Calif. (KNX) — A person posing as a medical professional gained entry to Los Angeles County’s Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar and took COVID-19 swabs of several youths detained there, according to a report published Friday.
The L.A. County Probation Department confirmed the incident, according to LAist. A spokesperson admitted an “unknown individual posing as a healthcare worker gained access” to the facility on Jan. 29.
“Local authorities have been notified and an internal investigation is underway,” the department said. “The Probation Department is reexamining security protocols.”
The agency claimed no juveniles were injured, but an internal email sent by an official in the L.A. County Public Defender’s Office, obtained by LAist, urged attorneys representing minors housed at Nidorf to determine whether their clients were indeed impacted by the unauthorized examinations.
The identity of the imposter is still unknown.
In a statement, Chief Deputy Probation Officer Karen Fletcher said it was “reprehensible that an individual would impersonate a healthcare worker and take advantage of one of our most vulnerable populations. It is disheartening, disrespectful and criminal.”
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