Mom of boy who says he was raped at Wayne Co. juvenile jail sues county, state officials

The mother of a boy who says he was beaten and raped last year by five other youths in Wayne County's juvenile jail is suing county and state officials, saying they created a "sexually hostile detention environment where the predictable but preventable happened."

The mother, who filed the lawsuit in federal district court in Detroit on Thursday, says Wayne County, its Executive Warren Evans and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services officials violated her son's constitutional rights, including protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

The Detroit Free Press is not naming the mother to protect the identity of the youth. The newspaper has reported since 2022 on the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center's problems with overcrowding and understaffing, creating conditions critics have called inhumane. The Free Press first reported on the alleged rape in March 2023.

The mother's lawsuit, filed by attorney Cary McGehee, states that staff put her son, who was 12 at the time, in a unit with older youths, including an 18-year-old and at least one other juvenile who had a history of criminal sexual conduct. She is suing for more than $1 million in damages.

"Defendants had the power and the financial means to implement the above corrective actions long before (the boy's) detention and sexual and physical assaults," the lawsuits reads, referring to steps taken by officials after the incident.

"Defendants had actual and constructive notice that the conditions of the (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."

Officials with Wayne County and MDHHS said they had no comment on the pending litigation.

The boy told police he was punched, stomped in the head and raped in the facility in separate incidents off and on over several hours. A state probe found fault with staffers whose jobs were to ensure the youth's safety and the county forced six out of their jobs.

The incident prompted the county's Evans to take the unusual step of declaring a health emergency at the county-run detention facility. Evans has blamed the state for failing to deal with a shortage of long-term centers where youths who have been ordered there by the courts can be treated.

At the time of the assault, the lawsuit states that youths were allowed out of their rooms without required supervision and that "that youth were staying in each other’s rooms all the time."

That was after months of complaints from youth advocates and families that the facility kept residents confined to rooms for days and lacked basic care, including daily showers, recreation time and medication.

The lawsuit said county officials knew it was a dangerous situation.

"Prior to (the boy) being physically and sexually assaulted, a (facility) staff member told his supervisor that due to residents being unsecured and out of each other’s rooms he was worried there was potential for sexual inappropriate behavior and assaults," the lawsuit reads, citing a Michigan State Police investigation.

State officials also knew about the conditions inside the facility and had "the power, authority, and resources to have access to the (the facility) and to oversee it to ensure that it provides proper care to the youthful detainees," the lawsuit reads.

An official with the Michigan State Police said Thursday that they are still investigating the March incident, which could include criminal charges for the youths who allegedly assaulted the boy.

"They are working on a couple of requests from the prosecutor," Lt. Michael Shaw, wrote in a text to the Free Press on Thursday.

The facility is under increased state oversight because of past violations. The state told the county in February that it intended to downgraded the facility to a "second provisional license," which could ultimately lead to license revocation. The county at the time indicated it planned to appeal the state's decision.

Evans has said this spring that they've made significant improvements, including adding more in-house mental health treatment, hiring about 100 new staffers and boosting pay by 35%, funded by a $10 million budget increase.

There have been other allegations of sexual assault at the facility this year, including two separate incidents involving adults.

In January, a state staffer on-site to monitor operations at the county facility was arrested in an investigation into whether she sexually assaulted a 15-year-old male resident. A spokesperson for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said they received a warrant request in that case but it was denied "because there is insufficient evidence that a crime occurred."

And in May, a former county employee was charged with sexually assaulting two teen boys in the facility.

Contact Christine MacDonald: cmacdonald@freepress.com or 313-418-2149. Follow her on X: @cmacfreep.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mom sues after boy says he was raped at Wayne County juvenile jail