Attorneys and former detainees are calling for the closure of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, alleging in newly-filed class action lawsuits systematic sexual abuse and “atrocious conditions” in the facility where minors are held while awaiting trial.
The complaints, filed Monday on behalf of 193 former residents of the Near West Side detention center, formerly called the Arthur J. Audy Home, accuse county officials of allowing widespread sexual abuse and implementing strip searches that were unconstitutional and against regulation.
During a press conference on Tuesday, plaintiffs spoke out about abuse they say they suffered while ordered to stay at the facility, calling for reform and even closure of the detention center. The plaintiffs join hundreds of others who have alleged in multiple lawsuits systemic sexual abuse in youth detention centers across Illinois.
“I was abused nearly two decades ago, but it still affects me to this day,” said a woman, who did not give her full name. “I stand here for my kids and for all the girls who went through what I did.”
A spokeswoman for Chief Judge Tim Evans’ office said the office does not comment on pending litigation.
The complaint, which spans from the 1990s to present day, alleges that Cook County, as well as the state by way of the chief judge’s office, failed to protect the youth in its care as well as enact policies that would prevent abuse. It further alleges that unlawful strip searches allowed at the facility resulted in abuse of detainees.
“As a result of chronic mismanagement, patronage, overcrowding, and inadequate supervision, JTDC has been an environment of violence, fear, and sexual abuse for decades,” the complaint says.
The facility has a troubled history that includes a 1999 federal class action lawsuit that alleged a raft of problems, including abuse, overcrowding, lack of medical care and poor conditions.
As part of a settlement, the county was ordered to improve conditions, but a federal court later appointed an administrator to oversee compliance after finding the county was not meeting the requirements, according to the suit. State law later transferred oversight of the facility from the Cook County Board to the Office of the Chief Judge.
The lawsuit alleges that the chief judge’s office was slow to act to bring in staff needed to make improvements.
Recent reports indicate conditions have not wholly improved, according to the lawsuit, which cited a 2022 report from a committee convened by the chief judge’s office that found that most youth spent at least 13 hours a day locked away in small cells.
“No parent would be allowed to do this to their child,” the committee found.
Last year, an Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice Inspection Report highlighted illegal strip search practices, the suit said.
An agency that oversees detention centers, though, found in January that the JTDC has “met or exceeded all state requirements for juvenile safety and well-being.”
“I’m calling upon the Cook County board president and the office of chief judge of the circuit court to shut this facility down,” said Jerome Block, one of the attorneys bringing the case.
Throughout the complaint, the plaintiffs allege specific acts of sexual abuse by adults who were working in the facility.
During the press conference, a former detainee said he “looked up to the wrong people” and wound up in the detention center. He said he was sexually abused during his stay.
“I am here because I want to feel confident in myself again,” he said.
Cook County in recent years has moved to find alternatives to the detention center, earlier this year winning a $450,000 federal grant to help build assessment centers and “Community Centers of Care.”
The assessment centers would investigate underlying causes for youth misbehavior, and the care centers are meant to be an alternative to incarceration, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
The plans reflect recommendations made by the blue ribbon committee convened by Evans.
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