A federal lawsuit filed this week claims children were held in isolation for weeks at a time inside the Adair County Youth Detention Center, defecating in their cells, having their medicine withheld and being put in illegal restraint holds as staffers falsified incident reports to hide the suffering.
The allegations are part of a lawsuit filed January 15 seeking class-action status against the detention center, Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice, state Cabinet for Health and Family Services and several state and facility officials.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys for two females who stayed at the maximum security youth detention facility in 2022, argues on behalf of hundreds of juveniles who have been locked up in the Columbia, Kentucky center, one of eight juvenile facilities in the state.
The facility has been under scrutiny at least since a similar lawsuit last year and a November 11, 2022, riot in which several young people and staff were wounded.
The lawsuit claims the facility has only five employees in charge of about 40 children.
One of the girls named in the lawsuit, Jamiahia Kennedy, was kept in isolation the entire four months she was locked in the facility, often using her bra to wash herself, according to the suit.
Kennedy was moved to a padded cell with no working toilet or bed after attempting to commit suicide. And male employees cut off her clothes, the suit claims. She was allegedly not provided with clothing or a shower for 12 days.
In addition, Kennedy was not given mental health treatment or prescribed medication, according to the lawsuit.
The other juvenile named in the lawsuit, Willow Neal, who was 17 and pregnant at the time, was also placed in an isolated cell infested with bugs and not given mental health treatment or her prescribed medication.
Both women named in the lawsuits are adults now and have consented to having their names used.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court by attorneys Laura Landenwhich and John Friend, claims these two incidents were far from isolated and included several similar alleged examples:
A juvenile held in isolation with the door’s window covered and a Spanish version of “Baby Shark” playing on a loop
Another child received a punishment of 24-hours’ isolation but was arbitrarily held in isolation for several days
A girl who spent days soaked in menstrual blood while staff told her she was “nasty” and “smelled like fish”
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
A spokeswoman for the state Justice and Public Safety Cabinet said the department “works tirelessly to provide safe and effective services to the juveniles in its care. For any staff member who violates policy and procedure, corrective action is taken. ”
Morgan Hall denied the allegations in the lawsuit and said the department “will defend accordingly.”
Source: WDRB
You must be logged in to post a comment.