L.A. probation officer caught on camera bending teen in half given no-jail plea deal
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A probation officer caught on camera bending a teenager in half, who was charged with excessive force after The Times published footage of the incident, will receive no jail time under the terms of a plea deal offered Friday by L.A. County prosecutors.
Oscar Cross, 61, pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of assault and must complete 250 hours of community service and 30 in-person anger management classes, according to the terms laid out by L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Ryan Dibble. If he abides by the terms of the deal, the case will be dismissed in one year.
Cross was charged with assault by a public officer in 2023, after the Times published video of the violent incident, which took place inside Camp Kilpatrick in Malibu in 2020. In the video, Cross is seen arguing with a then-17-year-old boy, identified as Beckham.
Beckham previously told The Times he was hungry and was searching in a common area for food, but all he found was a milk carton. He tossed the container, sparking an argument with officers.
After several L.A. County probation officers pinned a 17-year-old boy facedown following an argument inside Camp Kilpatrick in 2020, their boss grabbed the boy’s legs and bent them toward his head.
In the video, four officers are seen grabbing the boy and holding him down on a bed. One places a knee in his back, pinning the teen down. Roughly one minute into the conflict, as Beckham appears subdued, Cross grabs the 120-pound teen’s legs and bends his feet toward his head. Beckham can be heard screaming “Mama!”
“I think that what is happening is unfair. ... It’s ending too quickly,” Beckham said in a downtown L.A. courtroom Friday. “Everything that was done to me, it hurt me quite a bit, and I’m even scared to go out. I always have to be accompanied by my family because I’m insecure now of my own safety to even go out of my own home, given what had happened.”
Cross, who was the supervisor on duty during the incident, was originally charged with felony assault and faced up to three years in state prison. If convicted of a felony, he would have been unable to work as a law enforcement officer. Defense attorney Tom Yu said Cross remains employed by the Probation Department, but would not comment on his client’s current status or whether he plans to return to work.
Cross has been on leave since October 2023, according to Vicky Waters, the probation department’s communications director. She did not comment on the plea deal.
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Dibble said the lack of injuries suffered by Beckham played a role in the plea deal. However, Beckham contended in court Friday morning that X-rays have shown he suffered damage to a disc in his back. The Times previously reviewed records that showed Beckham was not treated for serious injuries in the incident.
“I’m glad [Cross] will earn a dismissal at the end of the case ... my client has served the county with distinction for over three decades,” Yu said.
Yu said Cross believes he used reasonable force in the incident, but the footage troubled several probation officials. One referred to Cross’ behavior as “child abuse.” A department review board said Cross should be fired, according to documents reviewed by The Times in 2021.
An L.A. County probation supervisor accused of using excessive force on a teen in Camp Kilpatrick will be criminally prosecuted, sources told The Times.
But then-Probation Chief Adolfo Gonzales shielded the supervisor from termination and declined to turn over footage of the incident to prosecutors for review.
The Times obtained the footage more than a year later from probation officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation from Gonzales. L.A. County prosecutors only became aware of the incident after a 2023 Times report. Gonzales was fired by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors just weeks after The Times published the video.
Prosecutors did not require Cross to give up his certification as a peace officer under the terms of the deal.
Dibble and Alan Yochelson, head of the unit that prosecutes police officers for the district attorney’s office, declined to comment outside the courtroom. The district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
L.A. County Superior Court Judge Armenui Ashvanian ordered Cross to pay restitution to Beckham, and a hearing to determine the amount will take place later this year. Beckham’s family has also filed a civil suit against the department and Cross.
Outside court, Yu scoffed at the idea that the victim in the case was a “choir boy,” saying he had fought with probation officers frequently and was in custody for a violent sexual offense at the time of the incident. A law enforcement source previously told The Times that Beckham was in custody for sexual battery.
“He’s not some innocent kid that’s just a victim of child abuse,” Yu said.
Juvenile justice advocates, however, were furious with the terms of the deal.
“I can’t help but wonder what happened to all those other officers who watched this and failed to protect this young person, and how this outcome will change the culture inside many of our juvenile facilities,” said Milinda Kakani, a member of the county’s Probation Oversight Commission. “I think it is safe to assume everything will remain the same.”
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