In another set of sweeping lawsuits, former residents of juvenile detention centers have alleged widespread sexual abuse in youth prisons across Illinois and are calling on state officials to reform the system.
Two complaints brought by dozens of plaintiffs — one by male detainees and another by females — accuse the Illinois Department of Correction and Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice of failing to protect vulnerable young people against known sexual abuse at the hands of state employees.
The complaints build on allegations brought in another suit filed in May, bringing the number of people making abuse claims to about 200. The plaintiffs, who detail specific acts of abuse, are listed by their initials to protect their identities.
In a statement, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice said it cannot comment on active litigation, but that it “takes seriously the safety of youth in the care of the department” and has enacted policies and procedures to identify possible instances of abuse or misconduct.
“All allegations of staff misconduct are immediately and thoroughly investigated internally and often in partnership with the Department of Corrections, the Illinois State Police and the Department of Children and Family Services,” the statement read.
Former detainees spoke out Monday at a news conference, alleging that they reported the abuse to prison staff, only to be ignored, or even punished.
“I want to bring humanity to the juvenile justice system,” a plaintiff said at the Loop news conference, “for the sake of my own kids and for all kids who went through what I did.”
Their attorneys called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul to take immediate steps to accept responsibility and ensure there are systems in place to prevent abuse.
“There is no evidence that any of the conditions that enabled institutionalized sexual abuse have been fixed,” said Jerome Block, one of the attorneys handling the case.
The facilities at issue as alleged in the suit are current and former youth centers in Warrenville, Chicago, Harrisburg, St. Charles, Murphysboro, Valley View, Joliet and Kewanee.
The suits accuse the state of failing to come into compliance with provisions of the Prison Rape Elimination Act that were enacted with the goal of preventing abuse in carceral settings. It says officials and staff systematically failed to act on reports of abuse. In some cases, detainees in the suit named common abusers that were allowed to harm minors over and over.
Jermaine Bell, a former detainee, told reporters he was abused in the St. Charles facility between 2005 and 2006. When he reported the abuse, he said, officials put him on medication, telling him he was hallucinating. Later, he said, they transferred him to a maximum security facility.
“To this day, I still suffer from the abuse and my personal relationships have suffered,” Bell said. “I know life will never be the same.”
The attorneys said that female residents, who make up a much smaller percentage of overall detainees, were abused at higher rates.
Among allegations in the suits brought by female and male detainees:
— Threatening detainees with physical violence, extended sentences or with revoking phone and visitation privileges if they resisted sexual acts
— Attacking detainees in their cells
— Coercing detainees into sexual acts in exchange for privileges such as extra snacks and time outside the cell.
— Groping detainees under the guise of a strip search
One former detainee told reporters he was an “impressionable kid growing up in the projects” when he landed at Murphysboro, at the time, set up as a “boot camp.”
“I tried to tell other adults around me. No one listened,” he said. “It gave me the message that no one cared about me, that I was less than human.”
