Survivors of child abuse at Illinois youth detention centers file more lawsuits in hopes of change

[February 12, 2025]  By SOPHIA TAREEN

CHICAGO (AP) — Marcus Walker said the sexual abuse he experienced two decades ago as a teenager at an Illinois youth detention facility has haunted his life.

After a staff member gave him drugs and sexually abused him, he joined a gang hoping it would protect him. It didn't. For years the now 37-year-old suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. He still has suicidal thoughts.

“I just kept going back and forth to prison because I didn't know how to cope,” he said Tuesday at a news conference as he wiped away tears.

He's among 800 people who have filed complaints since May against juvenile detention centers in Illinois alleging they were sexually abused by employees. The Illinois lawsuits are part of a wave of complaints against juvenile detention centers nationwide including in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Hampshire.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to being identified or decide to tell their stories publicly, as Walker and others who’ve filed lawsuits have. Most lawsuit plaintiffs are identified by initials in the lawsuits.

The latest batch of Illinois complaints —filed Monday — represents 133 people. They detail alleged abuse from 1997 to 2023, including rape, forced oral sex and beatings by counselors, corrections officers, kitchen staff and others. One complaint, representing 89 people, names the state of Illinois and two state agencies, while 44 other individual complaints name Cook County, which ran a Chicago juvenile detention center.

“The State of Illinois has had notice of such abuse for decades and nonetheless neglected to protect its confined youth from sexual abuse and failed to implement policies necessary to ensure such protection,” said one lawsuit filed Monday that characterizes the abuse as “systemic.”

While the number of lawsuits has grown, few cases of sexual abuse at juvenile detentions facilities have gone to trial or resulted in settlements. Arrests are infrequent.

Attorneys said Tuesday that local prosecutors have enough details to start building criminal cases and blasted state leaders in Illinois, which has stood out nationally for the volume of cases. Some alleged abusers in the lawsuit are named.

“How many more men and women who were sexually abused as children need to come forward in these cases before you take these cases seriously and do something?” said New York-based attorney Jerome Block, whose firm has filed complaints in Illinois and other states.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and state Attorney General Kwame Raoul, whose office has investigated church sex abuse cases, didn't respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday.

Sexual assault survivor Marcus Walker wipes his face as he listens to attorney Jerome Block speaking during a news conference in Chicago, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Pritzker, who took office in 2019, initially said the allegations took place before his administration. As more lawsuits were filed, his office declined comment. When asked about the growing number of lawsuits in October, he called them “unacceptable” and said the state was paying “close attention.” He also acknowledged more cases would follow.

“There are law firms who are, you know, calling everybody from years gone by to ask if they’d like to be a part of a lawsuit like that and so we’ll probably see more people joining the lawsuit,” he told reporters during an unrelated news conference in Chicago.

Officials with The Department of Juvenile Justice declined to comment citing pending litigation. An Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman didn't return a message seeking comment.

Allegations from all the Illinois lawsuits are eerily similar.

Many plaintiffs allege their abusers threatened them with beatings, transfers to tougher facilities and longer sentences if they reported the abuse. Some were given rewards like food, cigarettes or the chance to play video games if they kept quiet. Many alleged abusers in the lawsuits are identified as the survivors remembered them, including by physical descriptions, first names or nicknames. Dozens of alleged repeat offenders are also named.

Charles Graves, now 39 and living in central Illinois, said he was 13 years old when he was abused at facilities in Harrisburg and Joliet.

“I tried to speak up about the abuse to other staff members and I was punished,” he said Tuesday surrounded by other survivors who often nodded in support.

The lawsuit naming the state, filed in the Illinois Court of Claims, seeks damages of roughly $2 million per plaintiff, the most allowed under law. Arguments are expected in court later this month. The others that are individual complaints from 44 individuals filed in Cook County Circuit Court are focused on the troubled Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago.

Cook County officials declined comment citing pending litigation.

Walker, who lives in downstate Decatur, said becoming a father last year has motivated him to tell his story publicly and keep going.

“I felt so much self doubt,” he said. “If it wasn't for my baby, I don't know if I'd even be here.”

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