Three Men Allege Youth Center Abuse At Illinois Youth Centers

Breaking News:

The AP is reporting that Survivors of alleged abuse in Illinois youth detention facilities have stepped forward, with attorneys present at a news conference in Chicago on Tuesday.

According to the AP story published today, the complaint filed Monday alleges widespread abuse from 1996 to 2017 at nine youth detention centers, including gang rape, forced oral sex and beatings of children by corrections officers, sergeants, nurses, therapists, a chaplain and others. Many of the 95 plaintiffs, who are mostly identified by their initials in the lawsuit, said they were threatened or rewarded to keep quiet.

Further details from the AP story are that Calvin McDowell, 37, who alleged he was abused by a chaplain at a suburban Chicago youth center as a teenager, said he didn’t want others suffering as he did for decades.

“Instead of being cared for, I felt more alone than ever,” McDowell said at a Chicago news conference. “I held my secret from the people I loved out of fear and embarrassment. "I had nights where I wanted to give up on life.”