Lawsuit alleges Middlesex 'turned blind eye' to sex abuse at juvenile detention center
Six adults who were confined as juveniles in the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center in North Brunswick have filed suit against the county claiming they were victims of sexual abuse at the facility.
The plaintiffs, ranging in age from 34 to 45, are four men and two women, with some of the alleged abuse occurring as far back as 1991.
The lawsuit is the latest in a string of New Jersey juvenile detention abuse lawsuits brought by Levy Konigsberg, a New York City firm that has also brought suits against New Jersey for alleged abuse at state juvenile facilities in Monroe and Montgomery.
The firm is also suing Union County on behalf of eight men and women who allegedly suffered sexual abuse during their confinement as juveniles at the Union County Juvenile Detention Center in Elizabeth and Linden. The Union plaintiffs, six men and two women, range in age from 27 to 52.
The suits against Middlesex and Union counties were both filed on May 28 in the respective counties' Superior Courts.
Neither county has filed a response.
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The lawsuit charges that Middlesex County "turned a blind eye" to sexual abuse at the facility where Somerset County also sends its juvenile detainees.
The lawsuit alleges that the sexual abuse at the facility ranged from inappropriate strip searches to unlawful sexual relationships.
The staffers, both men and women, "routinely offered special privileges and/or contraband - such as cigarettes and food from outside the facility - in exchange for sexual favors."
The lawsuit also charges that juveniles rarely filed grievances against the staffers "for fear that they would face retaliation or that their complaints would not be taken seriously."
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The lawsuit also says that there has been "a severe underreporting" of sexual abuse at the facility.
The allegations at the Union County facility are similar to the ones at the Middlesex County facility.The suits are being brought under New Jersey's Child Sexual Abuse Act a 2019 law that expanded the statute of limitations for filing civil lawsuits in cases of child sexual abuse.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Middlesex 'turned blind eye' to juvenile detention sex abuse: lawsuit
