• Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman told a judge Monday he believed the vast majority of plaintiffs in L.A. County’s $4-billion sex abuse settlement were never housed in the facilities where they said they were abused.
• Attorneys for alleged victims said the district attorney’s claims were made without “a scintilla of supporting evidence,” and argued that delaying payouts further victimizes their vulnerable clients.
• Hochman’s call for a six-month delay has pitted the district attorney’s office against the county’s own lawyers, who want the settlement to move forward.

With the first tranche of money from Los Angeles County’s $4-billion sex abuse settlement scheduled to hit victims’ bank accounts next week, the county’s district attorney made a last-ditch effort Monday to stop the payouts, which he says are rife with fake claims.

Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman asked the judge presiding over the case to halt the historic payout, while the county’s legal team fought to keep the deal on track.

“This is among the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen as a legal professional,” said Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff, who oversees the bulk of the sex abuse cases.

“We have the county of Los Angeles with its county counsel’s office, which is a very substantial and sophisticated office, telling me this payment program should go forward,” Riff said. “And I have the D.A. from the same county telling me it shouldn’t, and that the county of Los Angeles is inadequate to protect these funds.”

Riff...

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