Nurses sue Kentucky, officials over alleged cover-up of abuse at juvenile detention center

Two nurses who worked in Northern Kentucky’s only juvenile detention center are suing over allegations that officials at the facility tried to cover up reports of sexual abuse.

The lawsuit was filed Nov. 20 in federal court in Covington and names the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice and officials in charge of the Campbell Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

Michelle Ratliff and Betty Tucker were both contracted by the juvenile justice department earlier this year to provide nursing services to youth at the facility. Ratliff started in February and Tucker in May.

In their suit, the nurses said they received information about abuse of underage girls detained at the facility and reported the misconduct to higher-ups.

Even after detention center administrators learned that a male corrections officer had an inappropriate relationship with at least one detainee in late April or early May, the suit states, they “concealed or did not otherwise immediately disclose the misconduct” to authorities.

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Instead, the nurses claim, the facility's management allowed the officer to continue working and have access to the juveniles until he was suspended at the end of May.

The nurses say that in the months that followed, they alerted the Kentucky State Police, FBI, media outlets and others to the administrators’ failure to report misconduct at the facility, adding that the FBI launched an investigation into the alleged cover-up in July.

A spokesperson with the FBI’s field office in Louisville said the agency could neither confirm nor deny the existence of such an investigation, per U.S. Department of Justice policy.

Shortly after news articles were published in August about alleged misconduct and mismanagement at the detention center, the facility’s management began retaliating against the nurses, according to the lawsuit.

“The retaliation began with comments to other staff members warning them that (Ratliff and Tucker) were not to be trusted or otherwise getting staff to cease communications with (Ratliff and Tucker),” the document says.

Tucker was removed from her position at the detention center on Aug. 30. The same was done to Ratliff on Sept. 5.

The nurses say their removal was in direct response to their disclosure of information regarding abuse and mismanagement at the facility.

“When higher-ups in the department became aware of the sexual abuse allegations at Campbell Regional Juvenile Detention Center, they took immediate action to terminate the employee,” Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice spokesperson Morgan Hall said in an emailed statement.

“DJJ does not retaliate against employees, youth or contract staff, for reporting misconduct. Department policy requires misconduct to be reported,” Hall added.

While the lawsuit doesn’t name the officer, both the Lexington Herald Leader and WAVE-TV in Louisville reported earlier this year that corrections officer Neil Moorman was fired after allegations surfaced he had inappropriate contact with one or more girls at the facility.

Moorman’s personnel file, obtained by The Enquirer through a Kentucky Open Records Act request, confirms he was fired June 6.

The documents also show that Moorman began working at the detention center on April 16 and was subjected to background checks before the start of his employment.

State and federal court records do not show that he was ever charged with a crime.

Ratliff and Tucker are seeking to have their case heard before a jury in hopes they’ll be awarded compensatory and punitive damages, as well as court costs and attorney’s fees.

The nurses claim that the juvenile justice department and officials at the facility violated the Kentucky Whistleblower Act, deprived them of First Amendment protections and interfered with their business relationship with the nursing agency that the department contracted them through.

The 35-bed juvenile facility in Newport began operating as the state's sole all-girl detention center in December. That decision was part of a statewide effort to improve safety within the juvenile justice system and followed riots at centers in Adair and Warren counties.

Just five months later, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced a partial and temporary closure of the facility because of a "crisis" in staffing levels − a decision local police officials denounced, citing the hardships of getting juveniles to detention facilities hours away.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Lawsuit alleges cover-up of abuse at NKY juvenile detention center