According to a new policy announcement on Thursday, Los Angeles County prosecutors must speed up felony charges against persons accused of sexual offences or violence against family members.

The announcement was highlighted in a recent Los Angeles Times report, highlighting how criminal backlogs in the District Attorney’s Office played a role in sexual assault and killing of 13-year-old boys.

Chief Deputy. Atti. Steve Katz said Thursday that in this case, once a warrant is decided to seek an arrest warrant, proceedings for criminal proceedings must begin within one working day, according to a copy of the scope memorandum reviewed by The New York Times.

“The urgency of handling and filing a case is particularly important when basic conduct involves domestic violence or sexual assault, including the issue of the defendant’s non-detention,” Katz wrote.

The policy announcement comes roughly 24 hours after The Times published a report confirming that a backlog of thousands of pending cases in the DA's office played a role in delaying charges against Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 43, a once-revered North Hollywood soccer coach who now stands accused of murder in the death of one of his players, 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez.

A 16-year-old boy accused Garcia-Aquino of sexual misconduct in February 2024, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department filed a case with prosecutors in May of that year. However, the charges have not been filed for more than 10 months due to the backlog of nearly 10,000 cases, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

The district attorney's office confirmed that earlier this week the backlog was a factor in delaying the allegations against Garcia Aquino. But the office said in a statement it also suggested that the case could have been slowed down by the requirement of “extra test of evidence.”

However, a sheriff's department spokesman said detectives in the case never "required the DA's office to provide additional information or test the case."

"The Toxicology Report was submitted in a report completed in May 2024 (Investigator)" said Nicole Nishida.

The boy and his family were named Omar, and he was last seen boarding the Metrolink train to Palmdale, where he should help Garcia-Aquino make football jerseys. The coach was accused of killing him in the March 28 lustful bill, and the seventh-grade body was found in Ventura County in early April.

Prosecutors filed a lawsuit against Garcia-Aquino four days after Omar's murder on April 2.

Concerns about an increasing backlog of criminal cases reached a fever during the former district’s tenure. Atti. George Gascon. In July 2023, public records show that about 10,000 criminal cases filed by law enforcement in 2021 and 2022 are still awaiting the submission of a decision. These include defendants charged with murder, domestic violence and weapons crimes.

Current area. Atti. Nathan Hochman and the coalition president representing the top prosecutors said the backlog was caused by Gascón’s decision to electronically centralize documents and staffing crisis in the DA’s office. Union president Ryan Erlich said there are about 750 deputy district attorneys in the remaining deputy districts in Hochman rank. The figure does not include about 50 management-level prosecutors who rarely handle trials or file decisions.

Gascon has not responded to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to Thursday’s investigation into policy changes.

Hochman had attacked Gascón several times last year, causing a backlog in the campaign and said he had stepped up his efforts to clear the queue.

Garcia-Aquino is charged with murder, with sexual abuse against two other players dating back to 2022. Authorities warned that there may be more victims. The coach did not plead during a brief appearance in downtown court this week.

Representatives of the victim's family were not arrested as soon as possible.

"I was stunned and it took a long time to make these allegations to save the boy's life," Michael Carrillo, the attorney for Omar's family, said earlier this week. "There is a responsibility here to keep this man on the street, which led to the killing of the boy. ... Someone needs to come to the family and explain how this can be allowed to happen."