Law enforcement sources claimed that Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón suspended prosecutor Shea Sanna for misgendering and “deadnaming” a convicted child molester and alleged murderer who started identifying as a woman after being arrested.
Gascón’s office refused to prosecute Hannah Tubbs, now 26, as an adult for molesting a 10-year-old girl two weeks prior to Tubbs’ 18th birthday when Tubbs identified as male and went by “James.” Tubbs was sentenced to two years in a juvenile facility for girls in that case in early 2022, Fox News reported.
Tubbs allegedly used a rock to murder another member of a “survivalist transient group” Tubbs was part of in 2019 in Kern County, California. Sanna, a lead prosecutor in part of Tubbs’ case, allegedly misgendered and “deadnamed” Tubbs, leading to his suspension by Gascón’s office.
“While we cannot comment on the specifics of a personnel matter, I can say that the actions taken by the Department were the result of the findings conducted by an independent County Policy of Equity Investigation,” Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Communications Bureau Director Tiffiny Blacknell said in a statement.
“I can also say is that the Transgender community is frequently the target of violent attacks. They are also reluctant to come forward and report their attacks because of how they’re treated in the criminal legal system,” she continued. “The LADA office takes seriously our responsibility to treat all people with respect and dignity no matter their gender identity.”
Sanna had been a harsh critic of Gascón during the molestation trial, saying that Tubbs should have been tried as an adult and condemning Gascón as being soft on crime.
“You have a violent sexual predator sentenced to two years in a juvenile facility,” Sanna said following the hearing.
Tubbs’ victim, now an adult, also slammed Gascón last year and said the light sentence was unfair.
“I’ve also heard that my attacker goes by she/them pronouns now,” she told Fox News. “I see it also unfair to try him as a woman as well, seeing how he clearly didn’t act like one on January 1st of 2014.”
An internal investigation into Sanna was launched last August, which stemmed from allegations that Sanna misused county resources, released confidential information and made inappropriate public statements, the prosecutor’s attorney Greg Smith told the LA Times.
It is not clear if the investigation involved comments he made about the Tubbs case, but Smith expressed concern that his client was being punished for criticizing Gascón.
“My concern is they may be using him as an example to frighten other DAs from coming forward and publicly making statements that are negative to Gascón,” Smith told the Times.
Prior to the child molestation sentencing, Tubbs’ father had been on a phone call with his child, in which Tubbs said, “So now they’re going to put me with other trannies that have seen their cases like mine or with one tranny like me that has a case like mine.” Tubbs’ father was told to refer to his child as “her” on the call.
Tubbs pleaded not guilty to murder and robbery last year in the 2019 case, Fox News reported. Tubbs is currently jailed in Kern County on $1 million bond under the name James Tubbs, with court records using the name Hannah Tubbs.
Gascón’s prosecutorial policies have been the subject of immense scrutiny, and he has survived two separate recall attempts. Gascón has also received more than $2.5 million from billionaire megadonor George Soros, who donated to the CA Justice and Public Safety: Committee to Support George Gascón in fall 2020, with Gascón winning election that season.
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