A lawsuit filed on Monday by 95 men and women who were housed at Illinois juvenile detention centers as children details decades of pervasive and systemic child sexual abuse. The abuse spanned from 1996 to 2017 and included gang rape, forced oral sex, beatings, and groping by various staff members at nine different youth centers across the state. The suit alleges that the state failed to supervise, discipline, remove, or investigate the alleged abusers, allowing the abuse to continue unchecked over the years. The locations of the youth centers encompassed areas such as Chicago, Joliet, Harrisburg, Murphysboro, and Warrenville, with several of them having since closed down.
The lawsuit names the state of Illinois, the Department of Corrections, and the Department of Juvenile Justice as defendants and seeks damages of approximately $2 million per plaintiff, the maximum allowed under the law. The current administration of the Department of Juvenile Justice responded by stating that the alleged incidents occurred under past leadership, but they take youth safety seriously and thoroughly investigate any allegations of staff misconduct with other agencies, including the state police. Governor J.B. Pritzker, who took office in 2019, acknowledged the issue, attributing it to a prior administration without offering further details due to the pending litigation. Attorney Jerome H. Block, who brought the case, plans to file more lawsuits on behalf of other victims of sexual abuse at Illinois detention centers.
One of the 95 plaintiffs, Jeffery Christian of Maywood, bravely spoke out about the sexual abuse he endured at two different detention centers starting when he was around 13 years old. Despite reporting the abuse at the time, facility administrators took no action to address the issue, leaving Christian feeling even more vulnerable and withdrawn. The lawsuit identifies at least six detention center workers, including a current small-town mayor in southern Illinois, as alleged repeat offenders with multiple accusations from different plaintiffs. The complaint also highlights the state’s use of unconstitutional systemic strip searches as perpetuating the sexual abuse of children in detention centers and criticizes Illinois for neglecting to protect confined youth from such abuse.
The lawsuit cites a 2013 U.S. Department of Justice survey that ranked Illinois among the worst states in the nation for sexual abuse in detention facilities. It also points to several criminal cases from 2000 to 2021 where youth center employees were convicted of sexually abusing children. One alleged repeat offender mentioned in the lawsuit is Rocky James, a former supervisor at the Harrisburg center who currently serves as the mayor of Eldorado, Illinois. While James denied the accusations, criminal charges remain a possibility in some of the more recent cases due to changes in the statute of limitations regarding crimes related to the sexual abuse of minors. The plaintiffs, who were aged 12 to 17 at the time of the abuse, reported being threatened with violence, solitary confinement, harsher facility transfers, and longer sentences if they disclosed the abuse.
The now-adult plaintiffs recalled being isolated in bathroom, kitchens, or cells when the abuse occurred, with reports of the abuse being dismissed or laughed off by staff members. The lawsuit details instances where offenders were given rewards for silence, such as extra food, money in commissary accounts, or the opportunity to play video games, further perpetuating the cycle of abuse. The victims, now individuals in their early 40s, mostly from Illinois, recount the horrific experiences they endured while detained in juvenile centers, highlighting the vulnerability of children in such settings. Attorney Jerome H. Block emphasized the power dynamic within these institutions, stating that children have no means of escape from the abuse due to the complete control staff members exert over them.
