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Reports of “sexual conduct” involving detained youth and a staff member at the San Mateo County juvenile hall surfaced at a recent public commission meeting, as the Probation Department confirmed it has an internal investigation underway. The department’s head said its investigation does not involve physical and sexual abuse and noted its staff is pursuing additional “unofficial” allegations circulating in the community.
At the Nov. 18 regular meeting of the San Mateo County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission, Chair Johanna Rasmussen, who is one of the citizen commissioners appointed by the Juvenile Court, Superior Court and Board of Supervisors, said multiple allegations had come in over the past 72 hours. In an interview, she said, “the commission received more than one report that more than one youth in our [Secure Youth Treatment Facility] was having sexual relations with a staff member.”
Rasmussen, who has served as a commissioner since 2021 and as chair for the last two years, declined to share additional information about the allegations, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation. She noted she would give an interview to the county Sheriff’s Office. At the meeting, Rasmussen invited Chief Probation Officer John Keene to discuss the allegations.
Keene, who was appointed to his position in 2013, said the Probation Department is “actively investigating activities in our facility,” but did not disclose details of the allegations. In an email to this publication, Keene did not confirm specifics of the allegations and noted that the commissioners are not privy to the information from the Probation Department’s internal investigation.
“Due to confidentiality protocols all I can confirm is that we are investigating internal allegations that do not include any physical or sexual abuse,” Keene wrote in the email. “We are full[y] committed to investigating any allegations that are brought to us in a manner that allows us to conduct an actual investigation.”
It was unclear why Rasmussen’s characterization of the allegations differed from Keene’s. Keene added in his email that he is aware of other allegations being discussed in various circles, which he described as “unofficial.”
“We are doing our due diligence to look into those as well, but we are limited due to varying degrees of cooperation by alleged reporting parties. As you are aware, allegations are not facts until they are proven,” Keene said.
The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission is a San Mateo County entity that, among other objectives, performs inspections of county facilities where juveniles are detained. Under state law, all California counties are required to have a Juvenile Justice Commission. San Mateo County’s Board of Supervisors also established a Delinquency Prevention Commission, and in August 2009, the joint state-mandated, county-appointed commission was established, according to the JJDPC’s 2024 annual report.
In addition to facility inspections, the San Mateo County JJDPC’s mission is to be “a public conscience in the best interest of young people.” The commission aims to prevent youth from entering the juvenile justice system and advocates for youth who have entered the system.
The JJDPC works alongside the Probation Department to carry out its various duties. According to the JJDPC’s operating policies document, “it is the duty of the Commissions to inquire into the administration of justice in a broad sense,” which includes the operations of the Probation Department and other legal entities.
Keene said in the email that he will not generally disclose the results of internal investigations to the JJDPC or any other public entity, citing confidentiality rules. He added that his department would evaluate whether to contact the District Attorney’s Office if there is evidence of a criminal violation, and that the department may work with outside law enforcement agencies to conduct additional investigations where appropriate.
This is not the first time the county’s probation department has come under fire for sexual abuse tied to youth in its custody. Recent lawsuits from 2022 and 2023, which are still ongoing, accuse former probation officer John Domeniconi of abusing boys for years while the County allegedly ignored complaints. The department has weathered earlier scandals, including the conviction of court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. William Hamilton Ayres, who died in 2016 while in prison, for molesting children and the child-pornography conviction of former probation chief Stuart James Forrest.
