More than 90 former juvenile inmates have sued the state of Illinois for over systemic sexual abuse in the state’s juvenile prisons, the New York Times reports. The lawsuit describes guards sexually abusing teenagers in their cells, staff members using strip searches as opportunities to commit assaults, and other employees who witnessed or learned about abuse doing nothing to stop it. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of similar cases around the country alleging sexual abuse in juvenile detention facilities. Todd Mathews, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, described the lawsuit as a way to “demand justice for every soul scarred by the system’s negligence.” “The systems are broken,” he said.
The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, which was named in the lawsuit, said in a statement that it “takes seriously the safety of youth in the care of the department.” It said that all allegations of misconduct were investigated but that the department would not comment on active litigation. Jeffery Christian, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said he had been abused at two Illinois youth detention centers where he was held as a teenager. At one, he said, a guard forcibly masturbated him repeatedly when he was 13 or 14. At another, he said, a counselor made repeated sexual comments toward him. “I want to shed light on what’s going on,” said Christian, who is now 36 and works in transportation, and who agreed to being named in this article. “I want justice in any form I can get it.”