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Kearny Mesa, a vibrant working-class neighborhood in San Diego, is a food-lover’s paradise, teeming with bustling ethnic restaurants. Ocean-close but inland enough to escape the cool coastal marine layer, it boasts one of the most enviable climates on Earth. But for dozens of children who were housed at the A.B. and Jessie Polinsky Children’s Center, this part of San Diego has been hell on Earth.
Polinsky Center: An Emergency Youth Shelter That Turned Into A Nightmare
A place meant to provide safety and stability for children in crisis instead became a site of unimaginable trauma. Recent lawsuits have exposed a decades-long pattern of sexual abuse at the Polinsky Children’s Center, an emergency youth shelter run by San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency. More than 100 former residents have come forward with harrowing allegations against multiple staff members, detailing sexual abuse allegations that span from the early 1990s through 2023.
These children, some as young as two years old, were already vulnerable—separated from their families, placed in Polinsky’s care for their own supposed protection. Instead of finding refuge, they were left in isolated and defenseless situations, where predators within the facility could harm them without fear of consequences. According to legal filings, the county’s failure to implement proper background checks and its lax supervision allowed abuse to persist unchecked for years.
Allegations of Widespread Abuse at Polinsky Center
The lawsuits, filed in San Diego Superior Court, accuse the county of negligence and the intentional infliction of emotional distress. The accounts describe abuse ranging from groping and molestation to repeated sexual assaults. Some survivors, now in their 40s, recount threats from their abusers, warning that reporting the assaults would result in further, more violent attacks—or that they would never be allowed to leave Polinsky.
While no specific employees have been named in the complaints, at least seven suspected abusers have been identified. The Polinsky Center is a 24-hour facility for the temporary emergency shelter of children who must be separated from their families for their own safety or when parents cannot provide care. Each month, more than 100 children up to 17 years old are admitted to Polinsky, where they may stay up to 10 days. Those brief stays were long enough to cause a lifetime of trauma for those who fell prey to the unchecked abuse.
Justice For Polinsky Sexual Abuse Survivors
Despite the lawsuits coming to light in 2024, legal pathways remain open for victims who have not yet come forward. The passage of California’s AB 218 in 2020 expanded legal options for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, extending the filing age limit to 39 and increasing the timeframe for bringing claims to five years. The law also introduced a three-year window allowing survivors of any age to file lawsuits for past abuse. As of 2024, there is no civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault cases occurring in California.
For survivors seeking support, the National Sexual Assault Hotline operated by RAINN (800.656.HOPE) offers confidential assistance, including access to local healthcare resources and long-term support options.
Connect With A Polinsky Sexual Abuse Attorney
If you or someone you love experienced sexual abuse at the Polinsky Children’s Center, you don’t have to face this alone.
Contact SurvivorsRights.com today, and we can help connect you with a compassionate, highly experienced attorney who will fight for your rights and help you seek the justice you deserve—a crucial step in the healing process.
