April 22, 2025
Juvenile detention facilities are failing to protect young offenders from sexual abuse by guards and other adult personnel, as well as by other juveniles, according to a recent Justice Department survey.
According to the National Survey of Youth in Custody, more than half (51 percent) of youth offenders in custody report being victims of sexual assault while incarcerated, while 81 percent of the victims report multiple attacks.
Incarcerated Youth Are Being Abused
In Oregon, for example, six juvenile inmates filed lawsuits against the Oregon Youth Authority in 2024, accusing supervisors of failing to intervene and report sexual abuse.
In Illinois, at least 667 incarcerated youths have alleged they were sexually abused as children in Illinois youth facilities and have filed suit since May 2024. The most recent complaints detail accusations from 1996 to 2021 and include allegations of rape, forced oral sex, and beatings by corrections officers, nurses, kitchen staff, and chaplains, among others. State-run juvenile detention facilities and a county-run Chicago center are covered in the complaint.
These reports are not isolated incidents. Just over half (51 percent) of incarcerated youths report having been similarly abused in a juvenile facility, according to the Justice Department survey. And an estimated 81 percent report multiple occurrences of abuse.
The Oregon and Illinois complaints are part of a wave of similar lawsuits in states including California, Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Who Is Abusing Incarcerated Youth?
According to the survey, 36 percent of the incidents of staff sexual misconduct involved force or coercion. The abuser was male 72 percent of the time. Staff are also failing to protect victims from attacks by other young inmates. Half of the youth reported being victimized by other youth, while the other half reported abuse by adult staff. Forty-seven percent reported being victimized during the first month after arriving at the facility.
Who is Being Abused?
While abuse is reported across demographics, a higher percentage (19.1 percent) of youth who identify as being a different gender from their sex recorded at birth report being abused. This compares to 6.8 percent of youth who identify with their biological sex. Youth who identify their sexual orientation as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or something else are reported to be victimized more (12 percent) than heterosexual youth (6.5 percent). Those with any disability or mental health condition report higher rates of youth-on-youth sexual victimization and staff sexual misconduct.
How Is This Happening?
Force or coercion by staff makes up 36 of the most serious incidents of staff misconduct. Where the sexual abuse is youth-on-youth, an estimated 33 percent of victims were threatened with physical harm, 22 percent were threatened with a weapon, and 14 percent were given drugs or alcohol.
How We Help Sex Abuse Victims
Our national sexual abuse lawyers work one-on-one with survivors, offering a direct, personal level of care and discretion. We use our decades of experience battling big organizations to fight on behalf of survivors, aggressively taking on those responsible for causing pain and suffering. If you are a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, we can help.
Our Results
Historic settlement for over 1,300 survivors of clergy and adult abuse within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, marking a pivotal moment for justice.
A Philadelphia jury awarded a record verdict against ExxonMobil for failing to warn about cancer risks due to benzene in its petroleum products.
Confidential settlement for the wife of a Rhode Island man who died of mesothelioma cancer after exposure to window glazing compound contaminated with asbestos.
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