{"id":5625,"date":"2026-07-27T22:41:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T22:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5625"},"modified":"2026-07-27T22:41:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T22:41:43","slug":"family-of-teen-victimized-in-suspected-concord-sexual-abuse-sues-contra-costa-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5625","title":{"rendered":"Family of teen victimized in suspected Concord sexual abuse sues Contra Costa County"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>OAKAND \u2014 The family of a 17-year-old boy who said he was victimized by his therapist has filed a claim as a precursor to a lawsuit against Contra Costa County and state authorities for allegedly failing to prevent sexual abuse and grooming.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5623\">Prop. 43 would make some local taxes harder to pass. What\u2019s at stake in the Bay Area?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Attorney John Burris announced the lawsuit at a press conference Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>In the suit, the family of the boy, identified as John Doe, claims that Sofia Ann-Buitron Drotts groomed and eventually had a sexual relationship with him while he was assigned to see her from 2024 to 2026. Doe had been in custody at Juvenile Hall in Contra Costa County when Drotts, a temporary employee with Contra Costa County Health Services, was assigned to be his therapist.<\/p>\n<p>As a 17-year-old and ward of the state, Doe could not legally consent to the sexual relationship. Burris said the boy was 15 years old when assigned to see her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so offensive, the (alleged) conduct in this case and the fact that all of the warning signs were missed by the supervisors of this woman,\u201d Burris said by phone Monday afternoon. \u201cIt\u2019s just a complete breach of legal conducts and ethical standards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe trusted these professionals with our son\u2019s healing and that trust was betrayed and fundamentally shattered,\u201d Moala said in a statement. \u201cOur focus is on our son\u2019s recovery and protection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Concord police arrested Drotts last week. According to police, the Contra Costa County Probation Department reported the alleged relationship between Drotts and the teen. Drotts was not listed in custody on county jail records Monday.<\/p>\n<p>According to Burris, Doe had been assigned to a therapist because he had suffered emotional trauma that \u201cin part led to his placement\u201d in Juvenile Hall. Doe continued to see Drotts after the probation department released him from the juvenile facility on April 3, 2026, Burris said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5621\">Brad Pitt spotted in famed Carmel bar amid family challenges<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cShe took advantage of his emotional vulnerability,\u201d Burris said. He added that the sexual relationship started \u201cunder the guise of therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also said the actions should not be seen as any less serious because the victim was a boy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf this is a girl, everybody is up in arms,\u201d Burris said. \u201cWe\u2019d talk about how it\u2019s ruined her life and all the damage done.\u201d Abuse of a teen boy, he said, should be considered equally as serious, \u201cespecially if we\u2019re talking about somebody with significant emotional problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit claims that state and county healthcare workers who worked alongside Drotts failed to act on or report repeated warning signs of the alleged predatory behavior. Burris called that failure a \u201cbreach\u201d of duties at both the county and state levels.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s supposed to be helping him,\u201d Burris said. \u201cInstead, we believe she was grooming him and using him for her own desires and sexual gratifcation in a very predatory way.\u201d In the statement, he said the conduct \u201cviolates every moral, legal, and professional standard meant to protect vulnerable clients like Doe from professionals who exploit positions of trust for personal gain. Such conduct cannot be tolerated, and the employees\u2019 supervisors must be held accountable for failing to supervise and monitor this caseworker\u2019s relationship with Doe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5619\">Silver Creek grocery store in South San Jose to close<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The family of a 17-year-old boy suspected of being victimized by his therapist has filed a claim as a precursor lawsuit against Contra Costa County and state authorities for not preventing what authorities call sexual abuse and grooming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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