Mother of boy sexually assaulted in Wayne County juvenile facility files civil lawsuit
(CBS DETROIT) - The mother of a 12-year-old boy who was sexually assaulted while in a Wayne County juvenile facility has filed a lawsuit, saying officials knew of the conditions inside the facility that led to the incident.
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against multiple county and state officials, including County Executive Warren Evans, Deputy Executive Assad Turfe and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The county says it has not yet been served the lawsuit and declined to comment at this time.
The lawsuit alleges that the Dickerson Detention Facility subjected the juveniles to "deplorable" and "inhumane" conditions that impacted the boy's health and safety, resulting in his rape by five other juveniles in March 2023. Those conditions included being denied showers, recreational time and the ability to leave their room for 22 to 24 hours. The facility is also accused of directing staff not to intervene in any sexual or physical assault among the juveniles.
The lawsuit also alleges that MDHHS failed "to provide a sufficient number of state-licensed placement beds for adjudicated children" and the facility hired staff who had a history of child abuse and/or neglect.
Following the assault, Evans declared a public health emergency at the facility, saying "The situation has become untenable for nearly 140 youth that are currently residing there. Extraordinary action has become necessary."
Officials said the emergency was issued to address staffing and overcrowding conditions. The lawsuit alleges that the overcrowding resulted in juveniles being locked in their rooms for hours.
An investigation revealed that another child was sexually assaulted by another juvenile in the facility. State records show that the incident happened in a medical room they shouldn't have access to, but there was inadequate supervision.
Staff did not alert boy's mother he was taken to the hospital after assault, lawsuit says
According to the civil suit, the boy told staff that he was being threatened by another resident in March 2023. The child was transferred to another unit where twin brothers were housed, which allegedly violated policy about having relatives/co-defendants in the same unit.
The lawsuit alleges the boy was then beaten and raped by five residents. One of the residents had a history of sexual misconduct and was charged with related crimes.
Two of the residents were seen punching the boy, but staff members did not enter the unit, according to the lawsuit. He was then taken to a hospital for injuries.
The boy's mother alleges that she was not notified that her son was taken to the hospital due to sexual and physical assault "until hours after he was admitted into the hospital." She claims she was not allowed to see her son until he was released from the hospital and returned to the juvenile facility and later released.
Prior to the assault, a facility supervisor instructed staff to allow the juveniles to stay out of their room "all the times;" however, a staff member told the supervisor they were concerned about the residents being unsecured and in each other's rooms leading to inappropriate sexual behavior.
The lawsuit alleges that officials implemented a 15-part plan for compliance achievements after the boy was assaulted. The plan included training for all staff on trauma and restraint and providing documentation for daily checks.
"Defendants had the power and the financial means to implement the above corrective actions long before ("the child's) detention and sexual and physical assaults," read the lawsuit. "Defendants had actual and constructive notice that the conditions of the (juvenile detention facility) were such that if these and other actions were not taken, it was substantially certain that a youth in the facility would sustain cruel and unusual conditions of detention, a sexually hostile prison environment would be created, and serious injury, including severe physical and sexual assaults, would occur."
