Dozens of survivors have come forward alleging rampant child sexual abuse within Maryland’s juvenile justice system. A series of lawsuits filed on Sunday alleged that the State of Maryland failed to prevent the “systematic” sexual abuse of children in their custody for over fifty years.
Claudia McClain, 49, was just 13 years old when she was sent to the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School, a juvenile corrections facility in Baltimore, for stealing bicycles and other small offenses. While there and at subsequent other juvenile facilities, the lawsuit alleges that she was raped and sodomized over 15 times.
McClain, the only named plaintiff, alleges that she was often assaulted under threat that she would be placed in the hole (a solitary room with only a mattress where she was left naked for days) if she didn’t comply.
“Claudia recalls that some of her friends and co-residents within the institutions committed suicide as a result of similar sexual abuse. Claudia remembers lying in bed fearfully listening to the sounds of others being raped and waiting for the key to her own room to turn as the perpetrators let themselves in, telling her she “knew what time it was.” Claudia herself attempted suicide within these institutions was later committed to a medical center to treat her resultant mental disorders,” reads the lawsuit.
To this day, McClain says she is in treatment for the abuse she suffered at the hands of staff at these facilities. And as horrific as her individual story is in isolation, the allegations brought by 5o formerly incarcerated children paint an even more gruesome and systematic picture.
“Unfortunately, due to the Department’s abysmal lack of management and oversight, thousands of youngsters have been harmed rather than helped, as they became the prey of sadistic staff whom they could not escape,” wrote attorneys.
The lawsuit alleges that children as young as seven years old were abused by staff who ostensibly had a duty to protect them. “The entire system failed these youth, and got away with generations of abuse,” wrote attorneys for the formerly incarcerated youths.
The suit was made possible by a new law, The Maryland Child Victims Act, which eliminates the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims. Previously, most victims of childhood sexual abuse had to file suits before their early 20s. Now, victims like McClain have their chance to demand accountability.
The Maryland Department of Juvenile Services responded to the allegations in a statement to the Washington Post, writing, “DJS takes allegations of sexual abuse of children in our care very seriously, and we are working hard to provide decent, humane and rehabilitative environments for youth committed to the Department.”
This lawsuit follows successful litigation in Louisiana to have children removed from the infamous Angola prison, a former plantation where children were allegedly routinely abused. Both stories seem to point to the beginning of a much-needed national reckoning about the defenseless children held in captivity across the country.