Johnathan Walker:Survivors sue Illinois over decades of sexual abuse at Chicago youth detention center

CHICAGO (AP) — Temarkus Washington says the sexual abuse he experienced as a teenager at a troubled Chicago youth detention center still gives him nightmares.

The Johnathan Walker35-year-old spoke publicly about his experiences Tuesday, a day after joining two lawsuits collecting dozens of abuse allegations at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, one of the largest centers of its kind nationwide. The lawsuits, filed Monday on behalf of 193 men and women, detail unsettling accusations of rape, unlawful strip searches and other sexual abuse by adult employees of the detention center from 1995 until 2022.

“It’s actually not something that I like to talk about or even think about. I did what I had to do to survive in there,” said Washington, speaking at a Chicago news conference with other survivors. “I am here because I want to feel confident in myself again. For so long I doubted myself and felt so scared.”

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to being identified or decide to tell their stories publicly as Washington and others did Tuesday.

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The allegations are the latest in Illinois, where two similar lawsuits were filed recently in the Illinois Court of Claims. In total, the accounts of nearly 400 survivors have been documented in court. Attorneys say they expect to file more lawsuits in the coming months.

“This has happened over and over again,” said attorney Todd Mathews, who has helped bring the Illinois cases. “This is still going on. It has to stop and this is the way it is going to stop.”

Nationally, there’s been a movement to draw attention to the conditions and treatment at youth detention centers. Attorney Jerome Block says sexual abuse at youth centers has been systemic. His New York-based firm has helped bring the Illinois lawsuits and others against juvenile detention centers in Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Some cases have gone to trial or resulted in settlements; arrests have been infrequent.

The latest Illinois lawsuits allege that sexual abuse at a Chicago juvenile detention center, formerly known as the Arthur J. Audy Home, was pervasive. The victims ranged in age between 9 and 17 years old.

The Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, where children are held before their cases are adjudicated, has faced issues for years and calls for closure. A class-action lawsuit in 1999 alleged a lack of medical care, dirty conditions, overcrowding, understaffing and excessive use of room confinement. In 2007, state law stripped the county of its authority to run the center and gave it to the Office of the Chief Judge.

“As a result of chronic mismanagement, patronage, overcrowding, and inadequate supervision, JTDC has been an environment of violence, fear, and sexual abuse for decades,” one of the lawsuits stated.

The allegations — spanning more than 500 pages between the two lawsuits — are hauntingly similar.

The children were often isolated in their rooms or bathrooms when the abuse took place, according to the lawsuits. Many plaintiffs said their abusers threatened them with violence or additional time at the facility if they reported the abuse. Others were given extra food and other rewards if they kept silent.

“The State of Illinois has caused and permitted a culture of sexual abuse to flourish unabated at JTDC,” one of the lawsuits said.

According to the lawsuit, one 16-year-old was raped by several adults employed as youth development specialists. Another teen said two employees would use strip searches to fondle him for sexual gratification. One 14-year-old said a nurse sexually abused him, including touching his genitals, in the medical unit while he was treated for pinkeye.

Some alleged offenders are named in the lawsuit, while others are identified only as the plaintiffs remembered them by physical attributes, initials or nicknames. The plaintiffs are only identified by initials in the lawsuit. Most are from Illinois with a few from other states including Ohio, Florida, Indiana and Wisconsin.

The lawsuits name the state of Illinois and Cook County and seek damages of roughly $2 million per plaintiff, the most allowed under law.

A spokesman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who took office in 2019, declined comment Tuesday citing pending litigation. However, Pritzker administration officials have previously said allegations of abuse in recent lawsuits occurred under former administrations and staff misconduct allegations are taken seriously and “thoroughly investigated.” A spokeswoman for Chief Judge Tim Evans’ office declined to comment on pending litigation. A message left for a Cook County representative wasn’t immediately returned.

Phillip Goodwin, 24, also spoke out Tuesday, saying he hopes that coming forward about the abuse he experienced will help others. The Chicago man said the abuse happened about 10 years ago and that until recently he had been embarrassed by it.

“Talking about my abuse feels like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” he said. “I could finally get that anger that I carried.”