Survivors across Illinois are coming forward with accounts of sexual abuse in the state's juvenile detention centers, youth centers, and juvenile halls — abuse by the correctional officers, guards, counselors, chaplains, and staff who held authority over them. The accounts stretch from the mid-1990s through the 2010s and describe a recurring pattern: adults exploiting their power over children in custody, supervisors who failed to intervene, and threats of solitary confinement or longer sentences used to silence those who tried to report.
More than 900 survivors have now filed civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse at Illinois youth detention facilities — including the state-run Illinois Youth Centers and county juvenile detention centers such as the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and the Mary Davis Detention Home. These claims do not depend on the abuser ever being arrested or convicted. Illinois has extended the time survivors have to bring childhood sexual abuse claims, so many people abused years — even decades — ago may still be able to file. Eligibility depends on the facts of your case, and attorneys are reviewing new claims from survivors across the state.
If you were sexually abused as a child in an Illinois youth detention facility, you may still have time under Illinois law to seek accountability — and recognition of what was taken from you.
