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. |
Xi Jinping arrives in Hong Kong for July 1 celebrations, makes first visit to city since 2017Was the Budget too little, too lateSharp rise in rental fraud including faking payslips, as tenants seek to fight off competition'This HAS to be the world's best businessI'm a firstBrutalistTale of the state pension underpaid for 20 YEARS: This is Money podcast'Forget the Algarve!' Travel experts reveal breathtaking lesser'We used to be dotty about bicycles': Cyclist discovers over 100 hiddenApple users are still discovering hidden new features inside iPhone's iOS17