MASSACHUSETTS YOUTH RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT AND JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors Sexually Abused in MA Youth Residential Treatment and Juvenile Detention Centers

Youth residential treatment and juvenile detention centers across Massachusetts have faced years of scrutiny over failures to protect youth from sexual abuse. This includes facilities that have been implicated in investigations and scandals involving staff-on-youth abuse and other residential programs operated by the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) and private companies.

Now, the DYS and private companies are facing a growing number of claims from former youth who were sexually abused by guards and staff while housed in youth residential facilities and juvenile detention centers across the state. Many of these lawsuits, which allow survivors to seek compensation for their damages, were made possible by recent changes to Massachusetts law that extended the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse lawsuits.

If you or someone you love were sexually abused as a youth inmate at a youth residential treatment or juvenile detention center in Massachusetts, Levy Konigsberg wants to help you take the next steps toward justice.

History of Sexual Abuse in Massachusetts Youth Residential Treatment and Juvenile Detention Centers

Massachusetts’ history of sexual abuse within youth residential treatment and juvenile detention centers  has been documented by sweeping investigations, civil lawsuits filed by survivors, and high-profile cases involving the arrests of facility staff.

These records are part of a growing list of evidence that shows youth residential treatment and juvenile detention centers across the state struggled for years due to rampant sexual abuse and conditions likely to lead to such abuse. They also indicate that the supervisors and operators of these facilities, including the Massachusetts DYS and private contractors like Volunteers of America, enabled a culture of secrecy and cover-ups, failing to adequately supervise staff and investigate complaints.

• In June 2024, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee released a sweeping report detailing abuse at residential treatment facilities operated by major healthcare companies, including Universal Health Services, Acadia Healthcare, and Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, all of which operate or operated such facilities in Massachusetts. The report revealed systemic sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, unsafe conditions, inhumane confinement practices, and neglect throughout these facilities.

• In March 2022, an internal investigation conducted by the Massachusetts Office of the State Auditor revealed alarming allegations of abuse within the DYS. During the audit period, which was conducted from July 2017 through June 2019, over 60 reports of alleged neglect and abuse were filed, including multiple cases of physical and sexual abuse. The audit also found that despite the reports, staff were not terminated in all cases.

Examples of alleged abuse, and of conditions likely to lead to abuse, include the following:

Southcoast Behavioral Health Hospital

• In March 2020, a mental health industry watchdog reported that Acadia Healthcare’s Southcoast Behavioral Health Hospital (SCBH) in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, faced criticism due to a high number of complaints filed with the state. The complaints, filed between 2015 and mid-2019, totaled at least 53, the second-highest among psychiatric hospitals with over 100 beds in the state. 

Allegations included coercive admission practices, with one patient claiming a doctor threatened to commit her for six months if she didn’t sign herself in voluntarily. The same patient alleged that the doctor prescribed medication without consulting her private physician and that she later discovered the medication was for conditions she didn’t have.

• In December 2023, a patient was allegedly sexual assaulted by another patient. 

Westwood Lodge

• In August 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) ordered Westwood Lodge Psychiatric Hospital to close due to critical safety issues. DMH officials did not disclose specific safety concerns. However, Westwood police confirmed an investigation into a reported sexual assault at the hospital. 

The shutdown followed years of investigations and a previous shutdown of the hospital’s child psychiatric unit in the spring due to multiple state-documented violations. 

• In 2002, Westwood Lodge operated by Universal Health Services (UHS) in Massachusetts faced an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of a 15-year-old female patient by two employees. Despite the patient’s claims, UHS administrators failed to take action, choosing not to report the allegations to authorities or restrict the patient’s interactions with the accused employees.

Pembroke Hospital

• In October 1998, the state Board of Registration in Medicine revoked the medical license of Dr. Antonio DeGuzman, a psychiatrist who practiced at Pembroke Hospital. This decision came after Dr. DeGuzman was convicted in March of molesting three teenage patients and sentenced to three to four years in prison.

• In May 2008, a male patient allegedly raped a female patient.

• In October 2008, a mental health worker was fired for allegedly having an inappropriate  sexual relationship with a patient.

Casa Isla 

• In December 2018, four former workers at the now-closed Casa Isla facility on Boston’s Long Island were sentenced to prison after being convicted by a jury on a total of 19 charges related to beating, sexually assaulting, and threatening youth inmates in what prosecutors called “ritualized punishments” that took place between April and August 2014. The convicted workers included Jalise Andrade, Silvio Depina, Hermano Joseph, and Ainsley LaRoche, who, along with four other former Casa Isla workers, were implicated in a state investigation that led to a grand jury probe.

• In October 2018, the third of three civil lawsuits brought by former inmates at Casa Isla was filed against the Massachusetts DYS. The lawsuits accused the DYS and Volunteers of America, which was contracted to operate Casa Isla, of failing to supervise staff. It put an end to ritualized punishment and abuse committed by staff. They include claims that youth inmates were subject to numerous beatings and sexual assaults by staff and required to participate in a fight club for the amusement of workers. Several of the former Casa Isla workers named in the suits were also charged in criminal court as part of a sweeping indictment after the facility closed in 2014.

• In July 2015, eight former workers from the Casa Isla youth detention facility on Boston’s Long Island were charged with assaulting youth inmates. The allegations accuse the workers of engaging in humiliating disciplinary rituals, including one known as “orange chicken” where teen inmates were struck on their bare buttocks with orange DYS sandals. In addition to charges of assault and battery, some of the former staffers faced additional charges, including threats to commit a crime, witness intimidation, and sexual assault. The indictments were the result of a grand jury probe initiated after a state investigation into allegations of staff-on-inmate misconduct at Casa Isla, which was closed in 2014.

Devereux

• In September 2023, Massachusetts regulators issued the facility 301 licensing violations. One incident involved an unsupervised youth injecting himself with Windex and aftershave.

LK is Investigating Sexual Abuse Claims Involving All Massachusetts Youth Residential Treatment Facilities and Juvenile Detention Centers

Our award-winning attorneys at Levy Konigsberg have helped hundreds of sexual abuse survivors fight for justice in civil claims brought against city-operated jails, state and federal prisons, youth residential treatment centers, and juvenile detention centers across the country.

Now, we’re leveraging our experience to help survivors who were sexually abused while housed at youth residential treatment and juvenile detention centers in Massachusetts, including those that are no longer in operation.

Sexual abuse may have occurred at several residential treatment and youth detention centers including the following:

• Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital (Holyoke)
• Southcoast Behavioral Health Hospital (Dartmouth) 
• Arbour Hospital (Boston) 
• Westwood Lodge (Westwood) 
• Pembroke Hospital (Pembroke) 
• Fuller Hospital (Attleboro)
• Judge Rotenberg Center (Canton)
• Devereux (Rutland)
• Bournewood Hospital (Chestnut Hill)
• Casa Isla (Boston Long Island)
• Plymouth Juvenile Secure Unit (Northampton)
• Robert F. Kennedy School (Westborough)
• Springfield Secure Treatment Program (Springfield)
• South Hadley Girls Treatment Program (South Hadley)
• Metro Youth Service Center (MYSC) (Dorchester, Boston)
• Judge John J. Connelly Youth Center (Boston)
• Reception-Detention Center for Girls (Boston)
• Westfield Detention Center (Westfield)
• Worcester Detention Center (Worcester)
• Lyman School for Boys (Westborough)
• Phaneuf Youth Treatment (Brockton)
• Bishop Ruocco Girls Youth Treatment (Lakeville)
• Fay A. Rotenberg School (Westborough)

If you or someone you love were sexually abused at these or any other youth residential treatment and juvenile detention center operating in Massachusetts, you may have grounds to pursue civil legal action and a financial recovery of your damages. Our team at Levy Konigsberg can review the merits of your potential claim during a free and confidential consultation.

Do I Have a Case?

You may have grounds to file a civil legal action if:

• You were sexually abused by a guard, counselor, nurse, or other youth residential treatment or juvenile detention center staff member.
• The abuse occurred at any youth residential treatment or juvenile detention facility.

Levy Konigsberg represents survivors in civil lawsuits that aim to hold youth residential treatment facilities,  juvenile detention centers, private healthcare companies, and other facility operators accountable for their failures to stop abusive staff members and protect young residents.

As civil claims, these cases are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse and focus instead on holding institutions liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

• Your abuser is no longer alive.
• Your abuser was never charged with or convicted of a crime.

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

• Past medical and mental health expenses
• Future mental health expenses, including therapy, medications, etc.
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish and psychological harm
• Lost income
• Other economic and non-economic damages

Massachusetts Sexual Abuse Attorneys

In 2015, Massachusetts lawmakers passed groundbreaking legislation to greatly expand the rights of child sexual abuse survivors. Specifically, these legislative amendments gave survivors, whom research has shown can take years or decades to process their abuse and its resulting impact on their lives, far more time to file civil lawsuits than what was previously provided for under the law.

Claims against abusers

Under current Massachusetts law (Chapter 260 § 4C), survivors of child sexual abuse must file civil claims against their abuser within 35 years of the final act of abuse or within 7 years of discovering that they suffered damages as a result of their abuse, whichever is later.

There are two important facts about the law and its application in child sexual abuse cases:

• The statute of limitations can be “tolled” until child victims turn 18, which means that survivors have 35 years from the date they turn 18 to file civil claims.
• The statute contains a “delayed discovery” provision allowing child victims to file claims within 7 years of discovering that they suffered damages due to their abuse. This means that victims may still be eligible to file civil lawsuits even if it has been more than 35 years since their abuse, provided they had not previously discovered the connection between their abuse and resulting damages, which may include addiction, anxiety, depression, and other emotional and psychological injuries.

Claims against others, including organizations responsible for the abuse

A separate Massachusetts law governs claims against persons or entities other than the abuser, such as the operator of a facility who allowed the abuse to occur. Under this law, survivors of child sexual abuse that occurred after June 2014 may file civil claims against persons or entities other than the abuser within 35 years of the final act of abuse. 

The “delayed discovery” rule allowing survivors to file within 7 years of discovering that they suffered damages due to their abuse applies the same as in claims against abusers.

Massachusetts’ current statute of limitations for child sexual abuse survivors provides far more time for survivors to take legal action than the previous law, but advocates and some lawmakers are still pushing to eliminate the statute of limitations entirely in child sexual abuse cases. There is currently a proposed bill (S.1038) that is making its way through the state Legislature that would do just that.

Levy Konigsberg is actively investigating allegations of sexual abuse at Massachusetts youth residential treatment facilities.

We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and seeking justice for survivors of sexual abuse in juvenile detention centers and youth residential treatment facilities. Our experienced team is dedicated to providing legal representation and support to survivors, and we are actively investigating allegations of abuse. We are working tirelessly to ensure that survivors have access to justice and that future generations of young people are safe from harm within these institutions.