Lawsuit alleges “serious sexual abuse” of migrant children and other assaults in nonprofit shelters

Employees at the largest shelter for unaccompanied migrant children in the United States sexually abused and harassed them, the U.S. Department of Justice claimed in a lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed this week in the Western District of Texas, alleges a “pattern” of “severe or widespread sexual harassment” dating back to at least 2015 by several employees of the Austin, Texas-based agency Southwest Key’s network of women’s shelters.

The nonprofit has contracts with the federal government to serve migrants who come to the U.S. without parents or guardians. Southwest Key operates 29 shelters in three states, including California, that provide temporary shelter for unaccompanied children.

The nonprofit has shelters in North County and East County, and thanks to funding from the Department of Health, the organization also has locations in Texas and Arizona.

The complaint includes alleged cases of “serious sexual abuse and rape, incitement to engage in sexual acts, incitement to provide nude photographs, incitement to engage in sexually inappropriate relationships, sexual comments and gestures.”

Southwest Key did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Justice Department said Southwest Key failed to protect the children in its care and did not consistently follow federal regulations to prevent, detect and report abuse.

In a 2022 case described in the complaint, a Southwest Key employee allegedly repeatedly sexually abused three girls, ages 5, 8 and 11, at Casa Franklin in El Paso, Texas.

The 8-year-old girl said the staff member threatened to kill her family if she disclosed the abuse, the complaint states.

In another 2020 case, an employee took a 15-year-old boy from Casa Kokopelli in Arizona to a hotel room for several days and paid him to perform sexual acts. In both cases, the abuse was documented in Southwest Key’s own reports, the lawsuit says.

“Sexually molesting children in homes where a child should be safe and secure is abusive, dehumanizing and unlawful,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement Thursday.

Migrant children who arrive at the border unaccompanied are housed by the U.S. government before being released to sponsors in the United States, typically parents or close relatives.

The lawsuit seeks financial compensation for the children harmed by the alleged harassment, a civil penalty to make amends, and a court order prohibiting future discrimination and an order requiring Southwest Key to take appropriate steps to prevent it in the future.

Individuals who believe they may have been victims of sexual harassment or abuse in Southwest Key shelters, or who have other information that may be relevant to this case, may contact the Department of Justice’s Housing Discrimination Reporting Hotline at 1-833-591-0291.

There have been record numbers of migrant crossings during the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat running for re-election against Republican Donald Trump. Since fiscal year 2021 through June of this year, more than 500,000 unaccompanied minors have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to U.S. government data.

(Reporting by Kristina Cooke and Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Marguerita Choy)