CHICAGO (AP) — Child sexual abuse at Illinois juvenile detention centers was pervasive and systemic for decades, according to disturbing accounts in a lawsuit filed Monday by 95 men and women housed at the youth centers as children. The lawsuit details alleged incidents of abuse from 1996 to 2017, including gang rape, forced oral sex, beatings and groping of children by corrections officers, sergeants, nurses, therapists, a chaplain and others at nine youth centers. Many plaintiffs said they were threatened or rewarded to keep quiet. “The State of Illinois has allowed a culture of abuse at Illinois Youth Centers to flourish unabated,” the 186-page complaint said. The lawsuit, filed in the Illinois Court of Claims, follows similar harrowing allegations of child sex abuse at juvenile detention centers in Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, California and New York City. Some cases have gone to trial or resulted in settlements; arrests have been infrequent. |
FAU hires Isaiah Austin, whose NBA playing plans were derailed, as an assistant coachNew York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba may be the most interesting man in hockey, on and off the iceJackson library to be razed for green space near history museumsHouse Speaker Mike Johnson risks job to deliver aid to UkraineNice scores three as lax defending against costs Lorient'The Met Police are making noDalai Lama’s sister receives award for educating Tibetans in exile — Radio Free AsiaSpain's EbroNext UN climate talks are critical to plot aid for poorer nations, says incoming presidentBill Tobin, a longtime NFL executive who helped build the 1985 Bears championship team, has died