Mother of boy sexually abused in Wayne County juvenile detention center files civil suit

(CBS) – The mother of a 12-year-old boy was sexually abused while he was in a Wayne County juvenile detention center, has filed a lawsuit saying officials knew about the conditions inside the facility that led to the incident.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against several county and state officials, including County Executive Warren Evans, Deputy County Executive Assad Turfe and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The county said it had not yet been served with the lawsuit and declined to comment at this time.

The lawsuit alleges that the Dickerson Detention Center subjected the youths to “deplorable” and “inhumane” conditions that impacted the boy’s health and safety, leading to his rape by five other youths in March 2023. Those conditions included denying them showers, recreational time, and the ability to leave their rooms for 22 to 24 hours. The facility is also accused of instructing staff not to intervene in cases of sexual or physical assault among the youths.

The lawsuit also alleges that MDHHS failed to “provide an adequate number of state-licensed placements for adjudicated children” and that the facility hired staff with a history of child abuse and/or neglect.

After the attack, Evans declared a public health emergency in the facility and said: “The situation for the almost 140 young people currently living there has become unbearable. Extraordinary measures have become necessary.”

Officials said the state of emergency was declared to Addressing staff shortages and overcrowdingThe lawsuit alleges that overcrowding resulted in teenagers being locked in their rooms for hours.

A Investigations revealed that another child was sexually abused by another juvenile at the facility. State records show the incident occurred in a hospital room that juveniles were not supposed to have access to, but supervision was inadequate.

According to the lawsuit, the boy’s mother was not informed that he was taken to the hospital after the attack

According to the civil complaint, in March 2023, the boy told staff that he was being threatened by another resident. The child was moved to another housing unit that housed twin brothers, allegedly violating policies regarding housing relatives/co-defendants in the same housing unit.

The indictment states that the boy was then beaten and raped by five residents of the home. One of the residents had previously committed sexual assaults and was charged with related offenses.

Two of the residents were observed hitting the boy, but no staff entered the unit, according to the lawsuit. He was then taken to a hospital for injuries.

The boy’s mother claims she was not informed that her son had been taken to the hospital for sexual and physical violence until “hours after he was admitted to the hospital.” She claims she was not allowed to see her son until he was released from the hospital and returned to the juvenile detention center and later released.

Before the attack, a facility manager instructed staff to allow the youth to leave their rooms “at all times.” However, a staff member told the manager they were concerned that residents were being placed in each other’s rooms without security and that inappropriate sexual behavior could occur.

The lawsuit alleges that after the boy was assaulted, officers implemented a 15-part compliance plan. The plan included training for all staff on trauma and restraints and providing documentation for daily checks.

“Defendants had the power and financial means to implement the above-identified corrective measures long before the incarceration (of the child) and the sexual and physical assaults,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants had actual and constructive knowledge that the conditions of the (juvenile detention facility) were such that if these and other measures were not taken, it was virtually certain that a juvenile in the facility would be subjected to cruel and unusual conditions of confinement, a sexually hostile carceral environment would be created, and serious injury, including serious physical and sexual assault, would occur.”