Lawsuit alleges sexual abuse of teenagers at former Michigan detention center

More than a dozen teenagers were sexually abused by employees while living at a state-licensed detention and rehabilitation center in Saginaw County, Michigan, before it closed in 2021, according to a lawsuit accusing the operator of gross negligence.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday describes how staff members preyed on 13 boys and one girl in their rooms, showers and elsewhere at the Wolverine Secure Treatment Center in Buena Vista Township, 100 miles north of Detroit.

“So far they haven’t spent much time talking about what happened to them,” attorney Corey Stern told The Associated Press. “It’s about coming to terms with who they are. It’s about coming to terms with unhealthy brokenness.”

The 100-bed center was operated by Metro Detroit-based Wolverine Human Services. Juveniles were placed there by courts, the state child welfare system and, in some cases, families.

A message seeking comment on the lawsuit was not immediately returned.

Residents wore shirts with the center’s motto: “Reality, Responsibility, Respect, Community, Negotiation, Education, Love.”

But it was a “far more sinister environment,” the lawsuit says.

“Several cases of sexual harassment and mistreatment of juveniles against juveniles and staff toward juveniles have been reported and are known to center officials,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit does not name the people accused of abuse, but some of the victims know the names. No employee has been accused of a crime, although “we would like to spend time with the attorney general’s office or the police,” Stern said.

Separately, in 2021, state regulators proposed revoking the center’s license. Inspectors cited examples of young people being aggressively restrained by staff and other breaches of the rules. Wolverine Human Services denied the lawsuit but ultimately closed the center.

Stern said there are more people who say they were sexually abused at the center as teenagers, but under Michigan law too much time has passed to file a lawsuit.

“I wish I knew how or why this culture of abuse has become more pervasive,” he said. “Ultimately it comes from power. Most victims – in fact, all victims – do not even appear to be human in the eyes of the perpetrators. They are commodities.”