Third Lawsuit Filed Against Kentucky Juvenile Facility Over Treatment of Teens

Adair County Youth Detention Center in Kentucky is facing a third lawsuit related to claims that children were being abused and mistreated while under the facility’s care. The latest lawsuit represents a girl who was held in isolation, assaulted, and then denied treatment for injuries she sustained.

The legal team of the now 19-year-old filed the lawsuit on Jan. 28 in the U.S. District Court in Bowling Green against seven employers of the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice and other state officials.

In the lawsuit, the 19-year-old says that between June 30 and July 26, 2022, and again in August 2022, she was held in complete isolation. Between June and July, the teen spent 27 days alone in a dark, dirty cell with limited access to food and medical care. This extended isolation would eventually lead to a decline in the teen’s physical and mental health.

The lawsuit details that on June 30, the teen was held in a physical restraint, and per department policy, she was supposed to undergo a medical examination. However, despite showing signs of distress, responding nurses were denied the ability to conduct an exam.

The nurses would later visit the teen in her isolation cell with the only access to her through the metal flap on the door. The nurses shared that when they were finally granted access, the teen was “begging for help,” and showed signs of a “mental breakdown.” At one point the girl pleaded for the nurses to help her, telling them “They are trying to kill me.”

After the nurses administered medication through the door, employees of the detention center allegedly grabbed the girl's hand and began to “violently twist” her arms to shove them back into the cell through the metal flap. “Once her arms were back in, (one of the guards) screamed, ‘Nobody opens the f — king flap,’ as he kicked the door,” the lawsuit details.

The nurses say they reported the distressing experience to the facility’s superintendent Tonya Burton but say nothing was done to address the concerns. On July 9, 2022, four weeks after the teen was locked up, one of the nurses sent an email to Burton explaining the way the facility’s treatment of the girl was "inhumane, the smell is horrid and every day that she is in that dark filthy room, she has less chance of returning to us."

The lawsuit goes on to explain the callous behavior of the detention center's employees against the teen continued beyond the detention center walls. The complaint alleges that one of the detention center employees mocked the girl in a social media post writing, “Bro, until you can walk past door 26, you don’t get to laugh.”

The lawsuit asserts “There is a breakdown in the proper workings of the detention center, including physical assaults of juveniles, extended solitary confinement, refusal to comply with medical instructions and inhumane treatment of juveniles,” The lawsuit adds that supervisors “knew of the breakdown and turned a blind eye to it.”

A similar lawsuit was filed in early January and represents two teenage girls who allege similar claims. Their lawsuit highlights alarming allegations, including one teen who was held in isolation with “a Spanish version of ‘Baby Shark’ playing on a loop.” Another detainee alleges that she “spent days soaked in menstrual blood” while employees ridiculed her about her hygiene.

Morgan Hall, the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet’s Communications Director, said in an email to reporters of the previous lawsuits that they “deny the allegations in the lawsuit and will defend accordingly,” adding, “For any staff member who violates policy and procedure, corrective action is taken.”

In response to this new lawsuit, Hall shared in a statement that the department tried "every alternative to have (the teen) removed from detention and placed in a suitable healthcare facility." However, their attempts were not fruitful because of the child’s "aggressive behavior."

After growing concerns over the Department of Juvenile Justice's operation, lawmakers called for auditor review. Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball issued a report of the review detailing a facility audit and found that “DJJ’s policies and procedures for isolation are inconsistently defined, applied, and in conflict with nationally recognized best practices.”