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More than 100 additional lawsuits have been filed by individuals alleging they were sexually assaulted while incarcerated in juvenile correction centers operated by the state of Illinois and Cook County. These new cases, filed on Monday, bring the total number of complaints to 800, as more victims come forward to share their experiences of abuse and its long-term effects, CBS News Chicago’s Sabrina Franza reported yesterday.
The plaintiffs say they are speaking out now because they no longer feel alone and want to prevent others from suffering similar abuse.
“I can’t live. I feel like I’m just existing,” said Marcus Walker, who was incarcerated at Illinois Youth Center Harrisburg in downstate Illinois. “Prior to it, I had never been in handcuffs, never been in trouble. After that situation happened, I joined a gang in there … thinking that was going to help me. It didn’t.”
Walker alleges that a state employee working at the facility subjected him to ongoing sexual abuse.
“She gave me drugs and alcohol, and used her power to sexually abuse me,” he said.
Now an adult, Walker said the trauma continues to affect him daily.
“Just kept going back and forth to prison, because I didn’t know how to cope. I just came home July 7th of 2023. I’m still dealing with it. I had my first baby. He’s 10 months old, and I deal with PTSD on a daily basis. I hardly get any sleep,” he said.
Walker is one of hundreds of men and women suing the state and county, alleging that officials failed to address systemic sexual abuse in juvenile detention facilities.
“I made mistakes to end up there, but no mistake could justify the way I was hurt and sexually abused by staff members there,” said Charles Graves, another plaintiff.
CBS News Chicago previously reported on hundreds of similar lawsuits filed last year. The latest 133 cases were added on Monday.
State and County Face Legal Challenges
“The juvenile justice system promises rehabilitation, but instead for our clients, the system was nothing more than a pipeline for suffering,” said Kristen Feden, an attorney with Philadelphia-based law firm Anapol Weiss.
Attorneys representing the victims argue that the state is disregarding the Illinois Childhood Sexual Abuse Act, which allows survivors to seek justice within 20 years of the alleged crimes.
“The state is refusing to accept any responsibility in these cases,” said Jerome Block, a partner at New York-based Levy Konigsberg LLP.
CBS News Chicago reached out to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office, Governor JB Pritzker’s office, and Cook County officials for a response. The only reply came from the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, which stated it could not comment on active litigation but confirmed that all allegations of staff misconduct are investigated internally.
Attorneys for the victims said they were not aware of any findings from those investigations.
