Cheltenham Youth Detention Center Child Sexual Abuse Claims

Posted on July 7, 2024July 7, 2024 by Loni Liss

Cheltenham, previously called Boys Village of Maryland, ignored years of child sexual abuse claims against staff and guards.

We are still talking about the bad conditions in Maryland‘s juvenile detention centers. Today, we are looking at the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center. Many people have made claims of rape and sexual abuse for years, but authorities did not take them seriously.

Teenagers will make mistakes sometimes. It is normal for them to mess up. Sometimes, they might even make serious mistakes that qualify as actual crimes, leading to forced detention.

Youth detention centers are meant to help young people change for the better and make amends for their actions.

Young people who end up in juvenile detention have often experienced trauma. It is important to give them a chance to learn from their mistakes and grow. This will help them overcome their past experiences and move forward positively. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network notes:

Children who are abused or experience violence are at a higher risk of engaging in criminal behavior. They are also more likely to experience mental health issues and substance abuse problems.

Additionally, these children may be more prone to attempting suicide. Youth who witness family or community violence are also more like.”

Seek Justice for Child Sexual Abuse Survivors

Many minors in Maryland youth detention centers have experienced abuse, assault, and trauma.

Were you or a loved one raped or sexually abused as a minor at Cheltenham Youth Detention Center or any other Maryland juvenile jail?

The Child Victims Act allows you to file a child sexual abuse lawsuit against the facility no matter how long ago the abuse occurred.

Even if you were abused 50 years ago, you may file a claim. Call or text our Maryland sexual abuse lawyers today for a free consultation. Our compassionate childhood sexual abuse survivor lawyers will get started on your case immediately.

Exposing the Abuse in Maryland’s Youth Detention Centers

Minors in youth detention centers are vulnerable. They are away from home in an unfamiliar and unwelcoming environment. They are often scared and lonely. All this happens on top of already potentially suffering from traumatic experiences that led to the offending crime.

Abusers in Maryland’s youth detention centers, like the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center, use their positions of power as doctors, nurses, and guards to take advantage of scared, traumatized, vulnerable minors.

It was despicable behavior these predators engaged in. What is worse is that the people in charge often did nothing, as reports of abuse were levied against staff members. At worst, facilities like Cheltenham Youth Center engaged in cover-up missions.

In this way, Maryland’s juvenile detention center network behaved like the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Catholic Church.

They ignored the allegations until they could no longer do so, and only then did they move an offender to another post, sweeping the actual issues under the proverbial rug.

Predators in Power Exploiting Minors in Maryland’s Detention Centers

Just as we are holding the Catholic Church accountable thanks to the Child Victims Act, it is now time to take the state of Maryland and its abusive juvenile and youth detention centers to task.

To do that, we must file cases against detention centers such as Cheltenham. Decades of unchecked sexual abuse will no longer be ignored.

We must hold the youth detention centers and the state of Maryland accountable for their inaction while abusers and predators ran rampant. Many guards have sexually abused children in Baltimore juvie detention centers.

If you or a loved one was sexually abused while at Cheltenham Youth Detention Center, let us help you fill a sexual abuse case to seek financial compensation.

You have a safe place to come to share your sexual abuse claim in Maryland. Call or text us today at 410-659-6800 for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we win your case. Our experienced sexual abuse attorneys will work with you with compassion and respect.

The Hidden Horrors of Cheltenham Youth Detention Center

Like the Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School, which we reported on recently, the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center opened in the second half of the 1800s and has undergone several name changes over its 150-year history.

Located in Prince George’s County, Cheltenham’s current name was founded in 2016. However, from 1949 to 1992, the youth detention center was known as the Boys’ Village of Maryland.

And as with Hickey, decades and name changes could not erase its sordid history.

In 2004, the United States Justice Department released a report on its 20-month investigation into Hickey and Cheltenham. The findings were as sickening as they were illuminating.

Over the report’s 51 pages, the U.S. Justice Department detailed several unprofessional, unethical, and illegal practices and procedures conducted by the Cheltenham staff.

For the purposes of this litigation, we will highlight “Article III: Findings, Section A: Protection from Harm, Clause 5: Other Abusive Practices, a.: Inappropriate Staff-Youth Relationships.”

“Our investigation revealed incidents of misconduct at both facilities in which female staff were found to have engaged in inappropriate relationships with male youth residents as young as 14 years old. For example, in June 2003 … the staff member admitted.”

These were not “relationships.” Adults with positions of power at a juvenile detention center raped and sexually abused minors—some as young as 14 years old.

Abuse Allegations Ignored How Maryland Failed Its Vulnerable Youth

Minors and prisoners cannot give consent. The vulnerable youth at Cheltenham and other juvenile detention centers were both.

This particular passage only outlines a few instances of sexual abuse at Cheltenham. However, there are dozens of public lawsuits filed by former youth inmates of Cheltenham alone.

We at The Yost Legal Group are already representing dozens of Maryland youth detention center childhood sexual abuse survivors, some of whom spent time at Cheltenham. Unfortunately, we expect to receive inquiries from many more people.

Please remember that you are not alone. We are here to listen. We are here to help.

Contact our Baltimore sexual abuse lawyers today for guidance. We will listen to what happened and file a claim for child sexual abuse.

If you are a survivor of child sexual abuse at a Baltimore juvenile detention center, call for a free, confidential consultation.

Survivors of childhood sexual abuse can come forward confidentially to seek justice.

If the Baltimore Department of Juvenile Services failed to protect you as a minor, we can file a sex abuse case on your behalf. Now, because of the Child Victims Act of 2023, you can file a lawsuit.

The experienced child sexual abuse survivor attorneys at The Yost Legal Group are ready to fight to get the justice you deserve. Call or text us at 410-659-6800 for a free consultation.

Child Sexual Abuse Claims Maryland – Maryland Juvenile Sex Claims – Juvenile Jails Sexual Abuse

Charles H. Hickey School Juvenile Detention Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

Posted on June 11, 2024August 26, 2024 by Loni Liss

Formerly Known as the Maryland Training School for Boys, This Juvenile Detention Center Has a History of Rape and Sexual Abuse of Minors

Maryland Juvenile detention centers have been irresponsible in their duties to protect the vulnerable minors in their care. Youth detention centers, like the Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School, ignored reports of rapes and sexual assaults for many years. These reports were not taken seriously by the centers.

Many juvenile prisoners experience incarceration due to traumatic experiences, poor family relationships, and untreated mental health issues. These can lead to poor decision-making and a move toward acts of crime. We are talking about minors, people who have very little control over where, how, and with whom they grow up.

Serving time in a juvenile detention center is supposed to be a minor’s “payment of debt to society.” The incarceration is the punishment. Minors should not experience cruel and unusual punishment beyond that.

Children in juvenile detention centers should never experience rape, sexual abuse, or assault by the adults in charge.

If you or a loved one is a survivor of childhood rape or sexual abuse while incarcerated in a Maryland juvenile detention center, you are not at fault, and you are not alone. The experienced attorneys at The Yost Legal Group are representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse that happened in Maryland’s youth detention centers.

If you are ready to talk, we are here to listen. Call or text today at 410-659-6800.

Uncovering the Horrors Inside Maryland’s Youth Detention Centers

These young people were raped and assaulted in juvenile detention. They did not deserve to be mistreated, no matter the reason they were locked up. They should not have been ignored or made fun of. They were talking about the bad things that happened to them in Maryland’s youth detention centers.

These facilities and the state of Maryland that oversees them have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the minors in their care. All parties involved with the management of these juvenile detention centers failed in their duties to protect vulnerable minors.

Now, thanks to Maryland’s Child Victims Act, survivors have a chance to advocate for themselves, to come forward, to pursue legal action against the facility where they were harmed.

Survivors Find Their Voice Thanks to Maryland’s Child Victims Act

The Child Victims Act has invigorated thousands of survivors to come forward, speak their truths, and seek justice. The Archdiocese of Baltimore alone is facing over 700 lawsuits from survivors who reported their childhood sexual abuses.

These brave and resilient survivors are going to help make sure these abusive institutions are held accountable for their complacency in the malice treatment of minors.

We here at The Yost Legal Group believe the next step is taking on Maryland’s juvenile and youth detention centers where rape and sexual abuses went unchecked for decades.

By February of 2024, there were already over 200 survivors who were suing Maryland’s juvenile justice agency. The lawsuits alleged abuse at 15 juvenile detention facilities. But it is believed there are far more cases than those.

Sexual abuse in juvenile detention centers turns into so many young victims of sexual abuse. One of our child sexual abuse lawyers can help you seek justice. Rape in juvenile jails has a going on for years and we are working to hold the department of juvenile services accountable.

There is an extensive list of Maryland’s juvenile detention centers you can find at this link. Some of the facilities are defunct, others are still active. No matter the operational status, if you or a loved one was raped or sexually abused as a minor in one of Maryland’s juvenile detention centers by an employee or contractor, you may have a case.

If you or a loved one was raped or sexually abused as a minor in a Maryland juvenile detention center and you are ready to tell your truth, contact The Yost Legal Group today.

Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School Sexual Abuse Claims

The Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School is one juvenile detention facility of note. Not only did the Hickey School come up in the earliest lawsuits against Maryland’s youth centers, we here at The Yost Legal Group are representing several “John Doe’s who are suing the school.

Formerly known as the Maryland Training School for Boys, the Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School has technically been in operation since 1850 when it was first called the House of Refuge.

The original building stood on Frederick Avenue in Baltimore City. The House of Refuge was the very first facility in the state of Maryland to function with the sole purpose of housing minor offenders to keep them away from adults.

Logically and on paper, it is a good idea to keep minors away from adult prisoners.

Unfortunately, the so-called adults in charge were not particularly “innocent” themselves.

Maryland School for Boys Sexual Abuse Claims

After changing its name to the Maryland School for Boys, the juvenile detention center moved in 1910 to its current location near Loch Raven. Then, in 1918, the facility changed its name again, this time to the Maryland Training School for Boys.

The juvenile detention center would operate under that name for decades until adopting its current name of Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School in 1985, in honor of a Baltimore County sheriff who passed away the year prior.

However, several name changes and relocation cannot hide or erase decades of reported sexual abuse. To be exact, the very first reports of maltreatment date back over 160 years to when the facility still had its very first name, the House of Refuge.

Maryland Survivor Breaks Silence on Juvenile Detention Abuse

As mentioned, we are representing several “John Doe”s who were held at the Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School. One such client was there in the 1980s and shared accounts of being groomed and sexually abused by two different guards.

Our client was a teenaged minor. He was incarcerated. There is no such thing as “consent” in either situation. The adult guards, one man, one woman, used their position of influence and power within the facility to rape and sexually abuse our client during his incarceration.

Beyond the personal failings of the guards, there are also clear logistical and systemic failures on the part of Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School’s administration that made it possible for guards to discretely sexually abuse the minors in their care.

Now, our client must deal with the aftermath of horrific psychological trauma. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and behavioral issues on top of the traumas that led to his being incarcerated in the first place.

We must hold these abusive individuals, the institutions that harbored them, and the state of Maryland accountable. The Maryland Department of Justice should not allow rape in juvenile detention centers.

Maryland’s Youth Detention Crisis: Survivors Seek Justice

Unfortunately, a lawsuit will not get anyone their time back. It will not undo the damage that has been done. It will not make the memories go away. If you are a survivor of sexual abuse in a juvenile jail by a guard or staff member call us to talk.

However, pursuing legal action against these institutions can help secure a monetary win that can be used to pay for therapy and medical bills, help your family, etc. Also, holding these abusive institutions accountable can help ensure these atrocities do not happen to the next person.

If you were in a Baltimore juvenile detention center and were sexually abused as a minor while at the Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School or any other Maryland juvenile detention center, we are here to listen. We are here to help. Contact the compassionate sexual abuse survivor attorneys at The Yost Legal Group today. Call or text us at 410-659-6800.

Tag: Juvenile Detention Sexual Abuse Lawsuit