LOS ANGELES, CA – Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts has denied allegations that he inappropriately touched a high school student while posing for a photograph at a community event, calling the accusations a smear campaign as activists push for an independent investigation.
Butts addressed the allegations publicly for the first time during a news conference, where he rejected the claims and disputed the suggestion that a formal complaint had been filed with the city or police. The city’s official website currently identifies Butts as Inglewood’s mayor.
“I fully deny their allegations with my whole heart,” Butts said, describing the claims as slanderous and defamatory and arguing that they lacked a direct source or factual basis.
“There is no documented complaint against me or anyone else in the city of anything,” he said.
The allegations concern an incident at a community event in which the mayor is accused of groping a high school student while posing for a photograph. The accusation has not resulted in publicly announced criminal charges, and the information provided for this report does not establish that the allegation has been substantiated.
Mayor addresses late-night meeting
The controversy also involves a late-night meeting between Butts and members of the girl’s family.
Video recorded by Inglewood District One Commissioner Leonard Redway appears to show Butts meeting with an individual on a neighborhood street Tuesday night. Redway has said the mayor was meeting with the girl’s father to apologize following the alleged incident.
Butts addressed the meeting during his news conference but continued to reject the broader allegations.
Activists have questioned why the mayor went to the family’s home and what was discussed during the encounter. The meeting has become a central point in calls for an independent review of the allegations.
Information gathered by Street People indicates that the circumstances surrounding the meeting remain disputed, with Butts offering his own account while activists have called for investigators to establish what occurred.
Butts also criticized the media coverage of the controversy and characterized the allegations as part of what he described as a campaign against him.
He said he was particularly critical of coverage that included statements from community activists and argued that the reporting had racial implications.
“They’ll stoop so low as to use innocent kids as pawns to dehumanize their opponents with racial stereotypes that should have been left in the past, a long time ago,” Butts said.
Butts concluded the news conference without taking questions.
Activists call for independent investigation
Community activists have called for an outside investigation rather than allowing the allegations to be resolved solely through competing public statements.
Later that day, activist Najee Ali delivered a letter to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office requesting an investigation into the allegations.
The DA’s Public Integrity Division says it reviews written complaints alleging criminal misconduct by elected and appointed officials and their subordinates when the alleged conduct occurred in the course of their official duties. The division says complaints must be submitted in writing and include some evidence of alleged criminal misconduct.
Ali said activists want Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman to independently examine accounts from people who were present at the event.
“We want DA Nathan Hochman to conduct an independent investigation based on the witnesses who were there,” Ali said.
Ali also alleged that the student was visibly upset after the encounter and questioned the mayor’s late-night meeting with the girl’s parents. Those statements are allegations from an activist and have not been independently established in the information available for this report.
No police report publicly identified
The material provided for this report states that no police report has been filed. Redway has said the girl’s family chose not to contact police because of concerns about protecting her identity.
The absence of a publicly identified police report does not, by itself, establish whether the underlying allegation is true or false. It means that no such report has been identified in the information currently available.
The Inglewood Police Department is the city’s law enforcement agency. Its official city page provides the department’s public contact information, including its dispatch number.
Community activists dispute mayor’s response
The controversy began with a news conference in which community activists called for Butts to resign and demanded an investigation into the allegation involving the student.
Activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson said at the time that allegations involving sexual misconduct should be treated seriously.
Redway, who has said he was present at the community event, also publicly discussed the allegations and questioned whether other individuals were involved in efforts to suppress information about the incident.
Inglewood resident and activist Yolanda Davidson took a more limited position, saying that an independent process should determine the facts.
“My position is simple: let an independent process determine the facts,” Davidson said, while emphasizing that Butts has the right to deny the allegation.
Davidson also said she was not an eyewitness and had not presented herself as one. She said her concern was that the allegations be handled through an independent process while protecting the privacy of the young person and her family.
Investigation remains unresolved
The competing accounts leave several central questions unresolved, including what occurred during the original photograph, what happened during the mayor’s late-night meeting with the family and whether any formal complaint or investigation will follow.
Butts has denied the allegation and rejected the characterization that he acted improperly. Activists, meanwhile, are asking the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to independently examine the claims and any available witness information.
As of the information available for this report, no criminal charge against Butts has been announced in connection with the allegation.
The matter remains unresolved, and any determination of what occurred would depend on evidence gathered through an independent or law-enforcement investigation.
