In the News - Juvenile Justice

The Year in News 2010 - Present

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The Year in News 2012

Former D.A.R.E officer sentenced again in sex abuse case
Fox 23 News
July 30, 2012
UPDATE: A former Albany, NY police detective and D.A.R.E. officer was sentenced to 6 years in prison on charges that he sexually abused a 15-year-old boy. For more on this article click here.

Tampa youth counselor accused of sexual battery involving teenage girl
Tampa Bay Times
Laura C. Morel
July 5, 2012
A Tampa, FL, youth counselor was arrested after he admitted that he had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl in his custody. For more on this article click here.

Former detective sentenced to 6 years for sexual abuse
Your News Now
Megan Cruz
June 22, 2012
UPDATE:Former Albany Police Detective and D.A.R.E. officer, Paul Pierce, has been found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy.  Pierce was convicted of two felony counts and one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child.  Pierce was sentenced to six years in state prison and 10 years post release supervision. For more on this article click here.  

Former JPSO employee accused of child sex abuse
Fox 8 – New Orleans
Natasha Robin
June 22, 2012
A former employee of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office was arrested as on multiple counts of aggravated rape, sexual battery and pornography involving juveniles.  For more on this article click here.

Juvenile detention officer resigns accused of having sexual contact with female inmate
The Columbus Dispatch
Josh Jarman
June 30, 2012
An officer at the Franklin County, OH Juvenile Detention Center has resigned amid allegations he had sexual contact with a female youth at the facility.  The officer
resigned from his job as a juvenile detention officer on June 4, about a month after an investigation began into allegations that he touched a female inmate inappropriately while working an overnight shift. For more on this article click here.

Ex-officer guilty of sex abuse
The Bulletin
Staff Writer
May 11, 2012
Harry Hintsala, a retired Oregon police officer and supervisor at the Warm Springs Children’s Protective Service, was found guilty of five counts of sexually abusing five girls between 8 and 12 years old. Hintsala faces up to 10 years in prison. For more on this article click here.

Justice Dept. moves to engage public in Juvenile Court remedy
Tri-State Defender
Tony Jones
May 10, 2012
The Justice Department released the findings of a two-year study that concluded that New Orleans, Shelby County Juvenile Court, operations are unsafe, obsolete and targets African-American youth for more punitive and harmful treatment.  For more on this article click here.

Houston police chief says he believes officer accused in videotaped beating kicked teen
Washington Post
Associated Press
May 8, 2012
An ex-officer is accused of taking part in the videotaped beating of a 15-year-old burglary suspect.  He is charged with official oppression, a misdemeanor, and faces up to a year in jail if convicted. For more on this article click here.

The REAL fight club at one of America's toughest jails: Inside the world of teen beatings and brutal brawls 'sanctioned by the guards' at Rikers
Mail Online
Emily Anne Epstein
May 6, 2012
A fight club regime and hierarchy of juveniles dominates daily life inside Rikers Island allegedly because of a "blessing" from the guards.  Eighteen-year-old Christopher Robinson was killed in 2008; three security officers, Michael McKie, Khalid Nelson, and Denise Albright were charged in his death. For more on this article click here.

Meeting on racial disparity at Juvenile Court turns into finger-pointing
The Commercial Appeal
Beth Robinson
May 2, 2012
Shelby, TN County Juvenile Court officials went on the defensive at a public meeting, with parents and community leaders questioning them about racial disparities.  A report released by the U.S. Department of Justice cited Shelby County Juvenile Detention Center of a pattern of rights violations and racial discrimination in the local juvenile justice system. For more on this article click here.  


State ends solitary confinement for juveniles
The Charleston Gazette
April 26, 2012
Description: http://openx.cnpapers.com/www/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=3991&campaignid=3152&zoneid=218&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwvgazette.com%2FNews%2F201204260017&cb=0ee5ac7359West Virginia has stopped using solitary confinement to punish juvenile offenders in response to a lawsuit by two youths at the Salem Industrial Home for Youth in Industrial, WV.  The lawsuit claims youth are illegally placed in solitary confinement, denied adequate access to exercise and educational materials, and strip searched.  For more information on this article click here.

Juvenile Court Discrimination Found In Scathing DOJ Report
The Daily News
Bill Dries
April 26, 2012
The U.S. Justice Department found that juvenile offenders in Shelby County, TN are denied due process rights and that black children are treated differently and more harshly than white children by the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County. For more information on this article click here.  Also covered by the Commercial Appeal


Lakewood Police Review 200+ Child Sex Assault, Abuse Cases
7NEWS Assignment Producer
Ryan Budnick
April 26, 2012
Lakewood, CO police are reviewing more than 200 cases of reported child abuse and sex assaults following the resignation of detective Justin LoBurgio.  Former detective LoBurgio is accused of failing to properly investigate the reports. For more information on this article click here


Ex-youth counselor gets 10 years for sex abuse
WJBC
Eric Stock
April 25, 2012
A former youth counselor faces 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two women at the Normal Community High School, in Illinois.   Frank McSwain Jr. pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.  The students were 17 when the incidents occurred, but the acts were illegal because of McSwain’s position as a “trusted counselor and supervisor.” For more information on this article click here 


Laws Sending Kids to Adult Court at Issue in New Jersey High Court
So-called juvenile waiver laws may be unconstitutional
YOUTH Today
James Swift
April 25, 2012
The New Jersey Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of the state’s juvenile waiver.  Currently, minors as young as 16 accused of a violent offense can be transferred to adult court under the state’s waiver laws. For more information on this article click here 


Second Salinas Police Explorer describes sex abuse in lawsuit
The Californian.com
Jeff Mitchell
April 25, 2012
A lawsuit filed in federal court by an underage Salinas, CA Police Explorer accuses Community Service Officer Scott Callan of sexual abuse.  The victim, then 13-years-old, was recruited by Callan into the city Police Explorers organization, then using the Police Athletic League's van, Callan reportedly drove the victim to many locations where he forced her to her have sex with him.  Callan was convicted in criminal court. For more information on this article click here


Firm Leaves Mississippi. After Its Prison Is Called 'Cesspool
NPR News Investigations
John Burnett
April 24, 2012
Former inmate Ross Walton describes mistreatment he received from the Walnut Grove, MS juvenile prison.  In addition prison staff having sex with the youth, guards brutally beat the children and used excessive pepper spray.  Federal Judge Carlton Reeves wrote that the youth prison "has allowed a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts and conditions to germinate, the sum of which places the offenders at substantial ongoing risk." The company managing the prison, the GEO Group, is leaving Mississippi. For more information on this article click here


Juvenile Justice System in West Virginia Examined
WVNTV
Staff Reporter
Apr 23, 2012
West Virginia's juvenile justice system will be examined by a court-hired monitor due to concerns that it focuses more on punishment than rehabilitation.  Youth entering the system were abuse victims or have drug problems, but treatment opportunities are nonexistent and punishment used instead to treatment opportunities. For more information on this article click here 

Sisters abused in state care - Jury finds that case workers didn't believe children's cries for help.
Anchorage Daily News
Lisa Demer
April 21, 2012
Two women took their claims of abuse, mistreatment and neglect while they were children in Alaska’s State Child Care to court in hopes of improving the state's child protection system.  The women claim that while in foster care they were molested by a retired state correctional officer, who eventually pleaded no-contest to three counts of sexual abuse, and sentenced to five years in prison. For more information on this article click here  


Report: Youths Wield Control At State's Largest Lockup
The Texas Tribune
Brandi Grissom
April 15, 2012
Concerns have been reported about a group of youths who ‘purchase’ control of weaker youths using drugs, cigarettes and money at the Giddings State School, a juvenile correctional facility of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. For more information on this article click here 


Young Minnesota inmates report more trauma than mainstream students
TwinCities.com – Pioneer Press
Brady Gervais
April 5, 2012
In a state-wide survey, young people in Minnesota’s correctional facilities report more traumatic events in their lives than those in mainstream schools, reported the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.  Youth in state run correctional facilities also reported more sexual abuse than their mainstream school counterparts.  For more information on this article click here


Conditions at Eastern Shore girls juvenile facility deteriorate
Capital News Service
Kelsey Miller
April 3, 2012
Conditions at the J. DeWeese Carter Children's Center, in Chestertown, MD, have deteriorated significantly. For more information on this article click here

The Year in News 2011

**Articles coming soon

The Year in News 2010

Ex-Texas Youth Prison Official Guilty of Abuse
Associated Press
Alicia Caldwell
April 22, 2010
UPDATE: A former Texas youth prison administrator was found guilty Thursday of sexually abusing a teenage inmate more than five years ago in a case that ignited a statewide scandal over the treatment of young offenders. Ray Edward Brookins was convicted of two counts each of having an improper sexual activity with a person in custody and having an improper relationship between an educator and student. Brookins could face up to 20 years in state prison.For more information on this article click here.

JLARC Faults Study of Sexual Abuse of Juvenile Offenders
Richmond Times Disbatch
Frank Green
January 30, 2010
The General Assembly's watchdog agency yesterday challenged a federal study on sexual abuse in juvenile correctional centers in Virginia and across the country. This month, the Virginia Senate Finance Committee asked the state's Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission to review the study by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Officials with the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice were stung that two of its four facilities included in the report -- the Culpeper and Bon Air juvenile correctional centers -- ranked among the 13 said to have the highest rates of victimization in the country. JLARC's report, presented to the Finance Subcommittee on Public Safety yesterday, concluded that "there may be sexual activity occurring in [Virginia's juvenile] facilities, but the BJS report falls short of accurately describing its extent."

4 Charged with Misconduct at Indiana Juvenile Center
Chicago Tribune
The Associated Press
January 29, 2010
Four female workers at a central Indiana juvenile detention center have been charged with exchanging explicit photos or engaging in sex acts with an 18-year-old male inmate. A state prison system spokesman says the investigation began when Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility authorities found the teen with a smuggled cell phone. The four women have been fired. One woman worked in the laundry, another was a contract food services worker and two were correctional officers. All four face official misconduct charges. Two also are charged with sexual misconduct with a detainee for performing a sex act on the teen.

Women Charged in Prison Sex Scandal
The Star Press
January 29, 2010
A Henry County woman has been accused of having sex with a teenage inmate at the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility. Carol D. Durant, a former laundry services worker at the facility, was charged this week with sexual misconduct by a service provider with a detainee, a Class C felony carrying a standard four-year prison term, and official misconduct, a Class D felony with a standard 18-month prison term. Melissa D. Pfleeger faces the same charges as Durant. Two other now-former employees at the facility have also been charged with improper conduct involving the same inmate. All of the defendants are accused of sending graphic images of themselves to a cell phone that was smuggled to the teen.

Justice study tracks rape, sexual abuse of juvenile inmates
Washington Post
Carrie Johnson
January 8, 2010
The Justice Department reported Thursday that 12 percent of incarcerated juveniles, or more than 3,200 young people, had been raped or sexually abused in the past year by fellow inmates or prison staff, quantifying for the first time a problem that has long troubled lawmakers and human rights advocates. The report, based on surveys from 195 facilities in all 50 states and the District, is the first of its kind. Rates varied among the institutions, but at 13 detention facilities, nearly one out of three juveniles said they had been victims of some type of sexual abuse.

Report Sex abuse high at 13 juvenile centers
The Associated Press covered by The Washington Post, The Houston Chronicle and others
Devlin Barrett and Dena Potter
January 7, 2010
Nearly one out of every three youths at 13 juvenile detention facilities have reported some type of sexual victimization, according to a government study issued Thursday that found widespread reports of youth sex abuse at correctional centers. Nationwide about 12 percent of youths held in state-run, privately run, or local facilities reported some type of sexual victimization, the Justice Department found in the first report of its kind.

Survey More than 1 in 10 youth inmates say they were sexually abused
CNN.com
January 7, 2010
More than one in 10 juvenile detainees in major U.S. facilities say they experienced some form of sexual abuse or sexual victimization while in detention, according to a report Thursday by the Department of Justice. The report's major finding is only an estimate, due to the inability to verify the information collected through questionnaires. Still, the estimated 12 percent of more than 26,000 detained juveniles reporting sexual victimization by other detainees or staff members brought a pledge of steps to address the issue.

The Year in News 2009

Transgender teen says she was constantly abused in agency's custody
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Sam Wood
October 31, 2009
A transgender teenager who identifies as a girl said she was subject to constant abuse and discrimination during 18 months in the custody of the Department of Human Services. At the Youth Study Center, the 16-year-old teen was placed in the boys' unit, where she said she was harassed by staff and residents despite a judge's order that she be addressed by her preferred female name and female pronouns. A complaint filed on the teen’s behalf contends she was physically attacked by other residents and orally abused by staff every day for almost a year and a half. The complaint contends she was subject to unlawful gender identity discrimination, sex discrimination and disability discrimination.

Ex-guard guilty of youth sex assault
Reporter News
Celinda Emison
October 29, 2009
A former guard at the Texas Youth Commission’s Ron Jackson Juvenile Justice Center in Brownwood was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of sexual assault.

Escaped Juvenile Had Sex with Counselor
ABC-2 News
Dave Clark
October 1, 2009
Police have captured a youth who escaped Monday night from a privately run juvenile facility in Baltimore County with the aid of a female counselor. The counselor has been charged with harboring and child sexual abuse. State police say the counselor and the youth had sex after the escape. The youth escaped from the Chesapeake Treatment Center on the campus of the former Charles H. Hickey School.

Bill in Texas Legislature would create oversight board for TYC, juvenile probation panel
The Dallas Morning News
Robert Garrett and Emily Ramshaw
May 3, 2009
A measure tentatively endorsed Saturday will create an oversight board to make improvements and recommendations to both agencies and to ensure youth have a seamless transition between incarceration and probation.

Guards accused of having sex with girl inmates
The Daily Comet
Matthew Pleasant and Naomi King
April 30, 2009
Allegations that guards at Terrebonne’s juvenile detention center had sex with teenage girl inmates in exchange for food, phone calls and other favors have now yielded four arrests, and authorities say more are imminent. Detectives have documented accusations from at least five girls held at the center over the past year and as recently as a month ago. Officers have been charged with molestation of a juvenile, indecent behavior with a juvenile, malfeasance in office and obstruction of justice.


Court Deems Two TYC Firings Unconstitutional
WiredPRNews.com
April 16, 2009
A federal judge ruled that the termination of two employees at the state juvenile detention center were improperly handled. San Antonio District Judge Orlando Garcia ruled that the state wrongly terminated two TYC employees, Patricia Logterman and Corinne Alvarez-Sanders, and the state implemented measure that allowed the agency to fire employees without cause is not constitutional. The judge ruled that the reform measure signed by Texas governor Rick Perry in 2007 in an effort to clean up the agency was unjustly applied to workers who had been hired as “for cause employees.” The agency is said to state that those fired were provided hearings for termination as policies outlined for the agency stipulate. Further hearings are set to be heard on the matter.


Female Guard Charged with Raping Teen
WSMV-TV/ MSNBC
March 13, 2009
A woman who worked as a guard at the Metro Juvenile Detention Center is accused of having a sexual relationship with a teenager under her watch. Tammy Graves worked at the center for 10 years and had never been in trouble until her bosses warned that she was getting too close with a teenager. In January, supervisors at the detention center said they became suspicious after observing flirtatious behavior between Graves and the 17-year-old boy. Graves was written up and told to clean up her act. Officers said last month Graves met up with the 17-year-old boy and bought him alcohol and admitted they had sex. She has been suspended from work, banned from all juvenile facilities and charged with aggravated statutory rape and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for providing the teenager with alcohol.


Fired Juvenile Officer Found Not Guilty of Sexual Abuse
Northwest Arkansas Times
Scott Davis
February 19, 2009
A jury found Robert Santos, a Washington County juvenile court officer, not guilty of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl he was assigned to help. Santos testified that he befriended the girl and that their relationship was not sexual, even though he admitted to talking to her about sexual topics and telling her about a dream in which he kissed her. The accuser claims he touched her breast on purpose, while Santos said that if he touched her it was done accidentally while tickling her after she teased him. Santos also admitted in his interview with police that they flirted over text messages.

Cook County Juvenile Detention Center to Rehire 5 Counselors Dismissed Over Abuse Allegations: They will not have any contact with youths in their new jobs
The Chicago Tribune
Ofelia Casillas and Hal Dardick
February 16, 2009
Cook County's juvenile detention center has agreed to rehire five counselors who were fired for allegedly physically abusing residents. In three cases, the detention center's previous leadership bungled the firings by failing to present proper evidence, an arbitrator ruled. A fourth employee, fired two months before Dunlap was brought in, allegedly punched a resident. DCFS again found credible evidence that abuse had occurred, but an administrative law judge overturned that finding on appeal. The fifth employee, a recreational staffer Dunlap dismissed under his "zero tolerance" policy, allegedly admitted yanking a youth to the floor by his legs to defuse a disruptive situation instead of using a restraining technique as policy required. A hearing officer determined the employee should have been suspended but not fired. Earl Dunlap, appointed by a federal judge as transitional administrator to improve conditions at the center, said provisions in a union contract and the dismissal of the cases on appeal leave him no course but to rehire the workers for administrative jobs. Dunlap initially refused to rehire any of the employees, but the Teamsters took the case to federal court.

Lawsuit on Behalf of Juveniles Detained at Youth Study Center Given Class Action Status
The Times-Picayune
Katy Reckdahl,
February 5, 2009
A federal judge ruled that a lawsuit brought on behalf of juveniles detained in the city of New Orleans' Youth Study Center should be certified as a class action. In December 2007, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana sued the city over the center, which has been plagued with escapes and reports of poor conditions, including 21-hour daily lockdowns, inadequate education and shoddy medical and mental health care. The class could potentially include about 400 young people who have rotated through the facility since the suit was filed, along with anyone held there in the future. The plaintiffs are not seeking damages but are asking for correction of the facility's problems.

Hennepin County JV Center under Review After Riot
KSTP-TV Minneapolis
January 23, 2009
Officials are reviewing security at the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center after a juvenile, two teachers, and a staff member were attacked during what police describe as a riot inside the facility. Six teens allegedly rushed their 59-year-old teacher, and struck him on the back of his head before taking his jail keys and emergency phone. The six teens—all between 14 and 17-years-old—headed for a particular classroom in search of a specific 15-year-old boy.

Two Boys Accuse Dallas ISD Instructor of Molesting Them at County Jail
The Dallas Morning News
Jennifer Emily
January 14, 2009
At least two boys awaiting trial as adults say a Dallas Independent School District instructor repeatedly molested them at the Dallas County Jail while he was supposed to be teaching them. Luis Enrique de los Santos is charged with one count of sexual assault of a child, and authorities said additional charges will probably follow. The Dallas County Sheriff's Department contracted with DISD to provide instruction at the jail. The Sheriff's Department and the school district are investigating whether other children taught by de los Santos may have been molested.

Marion County Juvenile Center Worker Accused of Forcing Teen into Sex
Indianapolis Star
Vic Ryckaert
January 10, 2009
A youth manager at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center is accused of forcing a 16-year-old inmate to perform a sex act on him on Christmas Eve. Michael A. Jackson was charged with felony counts of sexual misconduct and child seduction. Jackson is the first juvenile center employee to be arrested on sexual abuse allegations since a 2006 scandal. According to court records, Jackson demanded the boy perform oral sex in his office inside the center. The boy told investigators he tried to ignore Jackson but was afraid of him and agreed. Jackson told the boy not to tell anyone, but he approached him two days later to ask for sex again. On Dec. 25, the boy reported the incident to another staff member who relayed the allegations to her superiors Dec. 29.

Lawmakers Say TYC Contributed to Sexual Abuse
Houston Chronicle
Lisa Sandberg
January 9, 2009
Two lawmakers are accusing the Texas Youth Commission of contributing to the alleged sexual abuse last year of young inmates who were housed with peers known to be sex offenders. The agency is currently investigating the alleged sexual abuse of four youths by their peers in November and December at the Mart I Orientation and Assessment Unit, an intake facility outside Waco. The agency began drafting a "Safe Housing" policy last June, he said, but was not finished when the first sex abuse case was filed at Mart in November.

TYC Investigators Looking into Sex Assaults at Waco Area Facility
Austin American Statesman
Mike Ward
January 9, 2009
Texas Youth Commission investigators are trying to determine why several incarcerated teenage boys who say they were sexually assaulted at a Waco-area lockup had been put in cells with other youths accused of sex crimes, officials confirmed Friday. Legislative leaders were told this week that five youth-on-youth sexual assaults had been reported at the McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility in Mart, east of Waco. The agency's Safe Housing Policy is still awaiting approval despite earlier public assurances by Youth Commission officials that it was in place.

Former youth worker charged with sex abuse
WZTV Fox Nashville
Associated Press
January 8, 2009
A former employee at a Louisville home for abused youths has been charged with sexually abusing two boys at the center.

The Year in News 2008

Detention Officer Arrested: Authorities say she smoked crack and had sex with young offender
KVUE News
Shelton Green
December 17, 2008
Magdalene Bombella is in the Travis County Jail charged with hindering apprehension. Investigatorssay she admits paying forhotel rooms for her then 17-year-old son this summer so he could have sex with hisprobation officer/counselor, Cynthia Kathaleen Brown. Bombella is charged with hindering apprehension and Brown has the same charge as well as improper sexual activity with a person in custody.

Sexual Incidents Reported at TYC
Houston Chronicle
Associated Press
December 17, 2008
Five juvenile inmates either engaged in sexual activity or were sexually assaulted by other inmates at a Texas Youth Commission jail in Mart over the past 45 days. All five incidents were reported through calls to the 24-hour TYC telephone hot line. The Texas Office of the Inspector Generali s conducting the investigation and will present its finding to the local authorities for prosecution if cases are made.

Texas officials say it's too soon to give up on youth prison agency
Dallas Morning News
Emily Ramshaw
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
UPDATE: State legislatures and juvenile justice officials are currently fighting over the restructuring and merging of TYC and TJPC. The debate over whether to merge the two agencies is fundamentally about whether the TYC has served its purpose. TYC now oversees just a tiny fraction of Texas' juvenile criminals in its large, remote prisons. The question facing state leaders is whether it's more cost-effective for Texas and better for the state's juvenile offenders to serve them all at the local level – which the juvenile probation department already does.

Ex-Jailers Jailed in Young Inmate’s Rape
United Press International
December 8, 2008
Two former county deputy jailers in Kentucky were sent to prison Monday for arranging to have a teenage boy raped by inmates. The pair taunted the youth about his physical appearance, telling him he would make a good "girlfriend" for the other inmates then solicited convicted felons housed in a general population cell to scare the teenager. The officers left the teenager in the cell where he was sexually assaulted by the other inmates. The teenager's father reported the incident and demanded an investigation and the defendants falsified their official reports. The two jailers were found guilty of conspiring to violate the civil rights of the 18-year-old and received sentences of 14 to 15 years of incarceration and three years of supervised release.

NY Juvenile Justice Counselor Accused of Teen Rape
The Associated Press
Samuel Maull
December 3, 2008
A counselor with the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice was charged with the rape and sexual abuse of three teenage girls who were in his custody at family court. If convicted, the counselor faces up to four years in prison on each of two third-degree rape counts.

Sexual abuse case against former TYC jailer stalls
The Houston Chronicle
Alicia A. Caldwell
November 20, 2008
UPDATE: The state's sexual abuse case against a former youth prison administrator has stalled because his attorney was arrested and stopped appearing at hearings. Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General's Office, said the office has aggressively pursued the case and will continue to do so.

Scrap TYC, create joint juvenile justice agency
The Marshall News Messenger
By Mike Ward
November 13, 2008
The Sunset Advisory Commission has issued a report calling for the establishment of a Texas Juvenile Justice Commission led by an eleven member citizen board that would operate and coordinate all state probation and incarceration programs for youth offenders.

Defendants blame co-defendants in jail rape of teen
WZTV FOX News 17
By Associated Press
August 14, 2008
Former Grant County Jail officers Wesley Lanham and Shawn Freeman have testified in a federal civil rights trial against them for allegedly allowing a teenage inmate at the facility to be raped.

Former youth inmates face charges
Casper Star-Tribune
By Joshua Wolfson
April 25, 2008
Two former Casper Regional Juvenile Detention Center inmates have been charged are being prosecuted in connection with sexual assault allegations by other youth at the facility. Their identities and the specific charges have not been released due to the ongoing investigation.

Ex-Officer Sentenced For Misconduct With Juvenile Inmate
WRTV News 6
April 15, 2008
Former Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility officer Octavious Tyler has been sentenced to six months in a community corrections program after pleading guilty to two felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor for engaging in sexual activity with a female at the facility.

Marion County juvenile center to be monitored for 3 years
WSBT News 2
By Associated Press
April 14, 2008
County officials have agreed to monitor the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center for three years, provide status reports on security, health and safety and education and allow U.S. Department of Justice officials access to the facility, its records, staff and inmates following a probe into reports of sexual abuse of youth at the facility.

Former juvenile detention guard gets probation in sexual abuse case
Belleville News-Democrat
By Beth Hundsdorfer
April 8, 2008
Former St. Clair County Juvenile Detention officer Thomas O'Donnell has been sentenced to 48 months of probation after pleading guilty to official misconduct, custodial sexual conduct and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for molesting a youth at the facility.

Correctional officer accused of having sex with juvenile offenders
WSBT News 2
By Jeff Parrott
April 7, 2008
An Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility officer has been suspended after two female youth aged 15 and 18 reported having sexual contact with the officer.

Sex abuse, violence alleged at teen jails across U.S.
CNN
By Ashley Fantz
April 4, 2008
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed lawsuits against nine states and two territories alleging sexual abuse in juvenile detention facilities in an effort to protect the civil rights of youth.

Former TYC Officer Indicted on Charge of Having Sex With Teen at Al Price Unit
KFDM News 6
By Scott Lawrence
March 20, 2008
Former Al Price Juvenile Correctional Facility officer Janice Marie Simpson has been charged with violating the civil rights of an 18 year old in custody at the facility for allegedly having a sexual relationship with the teenager.

Teens can sue San Mateo County for sexual abuse at group home
San Mateo County Times
By Michael Manekin
January 15, 2008
San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Marie Weiner has granted a motion to relieve youth that have filed a lawsuit against the county from a requirement that they file a claim against the county within six months of the alleged abuse. The youth have accused the county of failing to protect them from a sexual predator employed at a group home administered by Project 90.