Dozens more former youth inmates are suing over alleged sexual abuse they endured at Illinois detention centers. Thirteen women and 95 men filed two separate lawsuits Friday. They're each seeking $2 million in damages.
Dozens more former youth inmates filed lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages for sexual abuse they allegedly endured at Illinois detention centers dating back to the late 1990s.
Thirteen women and 95 men filed two separate lawsuits Friday in the Illinois Court of Claims against the state Department of Corrections and the state Department of Juvenile Justice. Each plaintiff is seeking $2 million in damages, the most allowed under law. The filings are packed with disturbing allegations that guards, teachers and counselors at multiple juvenile detention centers around the state sexually assaulted inmates between 1997 and 2013. Often the same perpetrators would assault the same children for months, sometimes offering to shorten their sentences or giving them snacks or extra free time in exchange for their silence, according to the lawsuits.
A male plaintiff alleged he was 13 years old when he was housed at a detention center in St. Charles in 1997. Two guards gave him food, extra time outside his cell and extra television time as a reward for engaging in sex with them, he alleged. When he reported the abuse, the guards locked him inside his cell as punishment, he said. The plaintiff said he was transferred to two other detention centers in Warrenville and Valley View. Guards at those centers groped him as well.
The lawsuits note that a 2013 U.S. Department of Justice survey of incarcerated youth found Illinois was among the four worst states nationwide for sexual abuse in detention facilities.Last month, they sued on behalf of 95 other former youth inmates who allege they were sexually abused at Illinois juvenile detention centers between 1997 and 2017. Each of those plaintiffs is seeking $2 million as well.
Lawsuits Legal Proceedings Illinois Prisons Sexual Abuse General News IL State Wire A New Hampshire State Government Sexual Assault N U.S. News Juvenile Corrections U.S. News
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