Over a dozen teens were sexually abused at ‘sinister’ detention center, lawsuit says
More than a dozen people are suing a now-closed Michigan youth detention center, saying they were sexually abused there as teenagers.
The lawsuit, filed in Saginaw County on May 14, lists Wolverine Human Services as the defendant.
“Reality, Responsibility, Respect, Community, Negotiation, Education, Love,” was the motto printed on T-shirts given to teens to wear at the facility, Wolverine Secure Treatment Center, which served as a detention center, rehab and sexual aggression recovery program.
Instead, the teens at the Buena Vista Township facility “endured a far more sinister environment,” the lawsuit said.
In 2021 the facility closed its doors after the Division of Child Welfare Licensing issued an investigative report showing 10 violations, according to the lawsuit.
“Among the allegations were multiple episodes of improperly restraining, punching, choking, physically abusing juvenile residents, handcuffing a minor resident to the bed,as well as unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature from a supervisor,” the lawsuit said.
The court document goes on to detail sexual abuse allegations against staff members from 14 people who were once teenage residents at the youth rehab and detention center.
In 2016, a 16-year-old boy said he was raped by a male staff member while another male staff member blocked the door from inside his room, the lawsuit said. The boy reported the rape to his case manager, who is accused of instructing him not to tell anyone else about it, according to the court document.
The case manager then recommended the teen’s time at the center be extended, turning his one-year stay into three years, the lawsuit said.
In another case, in 2019, a female staff member is accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy. The employee gave the boy extra snacks, marijuana and let him use her phone, according to the lawsuit, before she performed sex acts on him.
When the boy reported it to police and administrators, the employee was transferred to the female unit, according to the lawsuit.
The 17-year-old boy was told by police that “he was not the first at the facility to report (the employee) for sexual abuse,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said the allegations of sexual abuse were reported to employees over the years, but were not acted upon.
“We are reviewing the complaint in detail. The alleged abuse in this lawsuit was never reported and we are working diligently to gather facts,” Wolverine Human Services CEO Judith Fischer told McClatchy News in a statement.
New York City attorney Corey M. Stern told Michigan Live that he has spoken with “20 to 30 times more people who were similarly abused at Wolverine but are now too old to join the suit.”
In one case detailed in the lawsuit, a teen said a female employee in her 20s went into the teen’s room to search it before bed. The employee is then accused of sexually assaulting the teen and was later fired after surveillance video showed her in the room for roughly 30 minutes, according to the lawsuit.
After being fired, the employee found the teen on Facebook and sent her a friend request, according to the lawsuit.
“The safety of our residents is always our priority, so we take all claims seriously and maintain our dedication to ensuring the well-being of each person in our care. The confidentiality of our residents and integrity of any investigations prohibits us from commenting further about the circumstances of this matter,” Fischer said.
The teens listed in the lawsuit ranged in age from 13 to 17 years old at the times of the alleged abuse.
The lawsuit is asking for an undetermined amount in damages.
Saginaw County is about a 100-mile drive northwest of Detroit.
If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom.
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