Lawsuit alleges decades of child sex abuse at Illinois juvenile detention centers statewide

Published May 6, 2024 1:29 PM

By SOPHIA TAREEN
Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — A lawsuit alleges that child sexual abuse at Illinois juvenile detention centers was pervasive and systemic for decades. A complaint filed Monday in the Illinois Court of Claims details disturbing accounts from 95 men and women housed at youth centers as children. The alleged incidents of abuse at nine youth centers took place from 1996 to 2017. The lawsuit claims they included gang rape, forced oral sex, beatings and groping of children by corrections officers, sergeants, nurses, therapists, chaplains and others. Many plaintiffs say they were threatened or rewarded to keep quiet. The Illinois lawsuit follows similar cases in Maryland, New Hampshire and New York City.

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