Hundreds more file lawsuits alleging sexual abuse at juvenile youth detention centers in Illinois

Over 200 more men and women say they were sexually abused as children at Illinois juvenile detention centers, joining hundreds of others who have already filed lawsuits.

Three new lawsuits were filed Monday alleging “a culture of sexual abuse” in Illinois juvenile detention centers between 1996 and 2021, the latest in a series of suits filed this past year.

Since May, 667 people have joined lawsuits alleging sexual abuse at centers across the state, according to attorneys representing the plaintiffs.

The lawsuits include allegations of rape, battery and emotional abuse perpetrated by correctional officers, teachers, chaplains and others.

One of the complainants, Khadafi Muhammad, said two decades later, he still has nightmares about the abuse he endured at Illinois Youth Centers.

“I was only 15 years old when it started,” Muhammad, 37, told reporters Tuesday. “I felt scared and confused, and my abuse impacted my relationships with the people around me … I pray this never happens to anyone again.”

One of the lawsuits filed Monday has 222 complainants, including Muhammad, and focuses on nine state-run Illinois Youth Centers. Five of those facilities are now closed.

The lawsuit also names the Illinois Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice as respondents and seeks damages of $2 million per plaintiff.

The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice said it’s aware of the lawsuits, and though officials declined to comment on active litigation, the agency “takes seriously the safety of youth in the care of the Department.”

The Illinois Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This lawsuit alleges the state knew of the abuse for decades and “nonetheless neglected to protect its confined youth from sexual abuse and failed to implement policies necessary to ensure such protection.”

There are several alleged offenders named in the lawsuit, many of whom have already been convicted of sex crimes. One person named remains employed in the juvenile justice system, according to attorneys.

Some offenders are only identified by nicknames or physical descriptions, and there are at least a dozen who are accused of abusing more than one child, according to the lawsuit.

Multiple complainants said they were sexually abused by a St. Charles chaplain, who threatened to keep one child in Illinois Youth Centers until he was 21 if he fought the abuse. Other abusers threatened disciplinary action or solitary confinement if children resisted the abuse, the lawsuit says.

A second lawsuit filed Monday focuses on nearly 50 cases of abuse at the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center, formerly known as the Arthur J Audy Home. The lawsuit seeks $100,000 in damages for each complainant.

A subset of those 50 people have also filed a third suit against the state, because their abuse occurred during a period of time when the state had some responsibility for the county facility, according to attorneys.

The offices of the Cook County Board president and the chief judge of the Cook County Circuit Court declined to comment on pending litigation.

For over two decades, the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center has been shrouded in controversy. In 1999, a federal class-action lawsuit alleged conditions were filthy and the center was overcrowded and understaffed. In 2007, a court-appointed administrator was charged with bringing the juvenile center up to “the constitutionally mandated standard.”

A 2022 report from a group of juvenile justice experts convened by Chief Cook County Judge Timothy Evans found the juvenile center “isolating and deprivational,” rather than rehabilitative, locking kids in their cells for the majority of their day.

The group determined the juvenile center should be permanently shut down and replaced with smaller, community-based facilities focused on rehabilitation.