PENNSYLVANIA JUVENILE DETENTION AND YOUTH RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT CENTER SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors Sexually Abused in Juvenile Detention and Youth Residential Treatment Facilities in Pennsylvania

Juvenile detention and residential treatment facilities across Pennsylvania have faced years of scrutiny over failures to protect youth from violence and sexual abuse, and several have been subject to sweeping investigations, high-profile lawsuits, and significant settlements related to abuse scandals. These reports and legal actions allege that facility operators created a culture of unprofessionalism, cover-ups, and lack of oversight that allowed numerous inmates and patients to suffer harm.

Now, a growing number of survivors are stepping forward to file civil lawsuits against the private and public entities that failed to meet their duty of care when operating these detention and residential treatment centers.

If you or someone you love were sexually abused in any juvenile detention or youth residential treatment center in Pennsylvania, Levy Konigsberg wants to help.

History of Child Sexual Abuse in Juvenile Detention and Residential Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania

The problematic history of juvenile detention and residential treatment sexual abuse in Pennsylvania has been documented by high-profile legal filings, criminal indictments, and sweeping investigations.

These records detail a systemic abuse problem in youth detention and residential treatment centers statewide and show that the operators of these facilities – including counties, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, and private healthcare companies – enabled a culture of unprofessionalism, secrecy, and cover ups that allowed staff-on-youth abuse, violence, and misconduct to persist for years.

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, all of which operate such facilities in Pennsylvania. The report revealed system sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, unsafe conditions, inhumane confinement practices, and neglect throughout these facilities.

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

White Deer Run

• In August 2025, Levy Konigsberg filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia County Court on behalf of a Lancaster woman against White Deer Run in Salisbury Township, Pennsylvania, and its parent company, Acadia Healthcare, alleging that the facility failed to protect her and did not properly train or supervise staff.

The lawsuit alleged that during her inpatient stay from November to early December 2024, a staff member forced her to perform a sex act in a bathroom. A counselor was allegedly aware of the abuse but no action or investigation was conducted.

• In August 2025, Victor Roberto Cotto, kitchen supervisor at White Deer Run in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, was charged for allegedly sexually assaulting and raping a patient at the facility.

• In July 2023, a male patient at White Deer Run in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a female patient at the treatment center.

According to state police, he allegedly followed the victim into her room, attempted to kiss her, tried to force himself on her, and made indecent contact with her.

Mid-Atlantic Youth Services

• In June 2024, a lawsuit filed in Lancaster County Court alleged that staff members at a Pittston Township juvenile center run by Mid-Atlantic Youth Services abused a youth at the Pittston Township facility. The victim was allegedly physically restrained and assaulted multiple times in 2017 and 2018, when he was between 13 and 14 years old, including alleged incidents in which staff members hit the youth in the genitals.

The facility allegedly failed to properly monitor staff or investigate reports of misconduct. The lawsuit also alleged that the company fostered a culture that made it difficult for minors to report abuse or resist their alleged abusers. It further alleged that the Lancaster County Children and Youth Agency was negligent in failing to ensure the minor was placed in a safe environment.

• In February 2019, a 15-year-old boy at Mid-Atlantic Youth Services in Pittston Township, Pennsylvania, reported that staff members allegedly mistreated him.

Surveillance video allegedly showed multiple staff members surrounding the teen and forcing him to the ground while his hands were held behind his back in a dangerous restraint.

According to the report, investigators from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services allegedly did not review the surveillance video, interview staff, examine internal reports, or formally interview the youth on the day the complaint was raised. 

Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center (DCJDC)

• In December 2022, PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the findings of a grand jury investigation into severe deficiencies in the operation of the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center (DCJDC). The report discussed how DCJDC’s lack of oversight, cover-ups, and systemic failures created a culture of unprofessionalism that allowed for widespread violence and sexual misconduct. The report also included testimony about sexually inappropriate conduct by male staff, including illegal relationships and staff-on-inmate abuse, which went largely unchecked

• In March 2021, two former inmates housed at the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center in Lima filed a lawsuit against Delaware County, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, and the nonprofit contractor Child Guidance Resource Center over claims that they were sexually abused by staff. The lawsuit includes allegations from one survivor who was taken to “private parties” where she was supplied drugs and alcohol and sexually abused, as well as another survivor who was raped by a staff member and threatened to remain silent.

• In March 2021, a County President Judge ordered the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center to be vacated after a report from the Public Defender’s Office detailed allegations of “physical, sexual, and psychological abuse by staff.” The letter, a product of a monthlong investigation by the PD office, included claims of severe staff-on-inmate violence, sexual abuse, egregious harassment and hazing, inappropriate use of solitary confinement, and numerous instances of beatings. The letter also stated that these conditions persisted because of a “culture of secrecy” built on threats, intimidation, and retaliation.

Abraxas Juvenile Center

• In April 2023, Elizabeth Ann Bohler, a former employee at the Abraxas Juvenile Center in Howe Township, was charged with multiple sex crimes after she engaged in a sexual relationship with a minor housed at the facility. According to the criminal complaint, the relationship, which began in late 2022 and continued for several months, involved sexual contact in a closet at the facility, sexual letters and text messages, and Bohler providing contraband to the juvenile.

• In March 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed against private prison operator The GEO Group and other defendants on behalf of former inmates who claim that they were physically, mentally, and sexually abused while in custody at the Abraxas Youth and Family Services Center.

George Junior Republic

• In May 2015, Sarah Trumphour, a former employee at George Junior Republic, pleaded guilty to felony sexual misconduct with a child at the facility. Trumphour had been charged with sending sexually explicit messages and images to the boy, arranging for oral sex in the laundry room at the facility, and taking the boy to a motel for sex while the boy was home on a weekend pass.

• In January 2004, Amy Anderson, a former cottage parent at George Junior Republic pleaded guilty to multiple sex crimes, including maintaining a sexual relationship with a child at the facility. Among other misconduct, Anderson had helped a 16-year-old boy escape from the juvenile detention facility in 2002 and had lived with him for two months while evading authorities.

Loysville Youth Development Center

• In January 2010, a report released by the U.S. Department of Justice found that the Loysville Youth Development Center had high rates of sexual abuse, with approximately 12% of youth inmates reporting that they were sexually abused by staff.

• In December 2010, an employee at Loysville Youth Development Center was charged with institutional sexual assault of a resident at the facility.

Glen Mills Schools

• In 2020, several former students of Glen Mills Schools filed lawsuits alleging that they were sexually, physically, and emotionally abused by staff at the facility.

• In April 2019, the state of Pennsylvania revoked the licenses for Glen Mills Schools to operate, “following documented instances of abuse against former students of the residential school.” Reports noted that in just five years, 13 Glen Mills employees had been fired, and dozens more had been investigated, for abuse of children at the facility.

Summit Academy

• In December 2017, a special education teacher was fired from Summit Academy and charged with sexual assault after an investigation found that she had had sex with a student on multiple occasions.

• In April 2013, Dr. David Evanko pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two students at Summit Academy, where he had worked as a physician in the 2000s. Dr. Evanko was a serial abuser, who had previously abused children while working as a Boy Scout leader in the 1980s and 1990s.

Northwestern Academy

• In January 2015, Aimee Bailey pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a youth detainee at the now-closed Northwestern Academy in Excelsior, PA in 2013. Bailey, who now goes by her maiden name of Goepfert, was employed by subcontractor Litton’s Management Service as food service worker in the academy when she engaged in sexual conduct with a teen enrolled in the Academy’s prep program. Northwestern Academy was a private juvenile detention facility in Coal Township operated by Northwestern Human Services (NHS). It was permanently closed in 2016.

Lancaster County Juvenile Detention Center

• In February 2020, Lancaster County agreed to pay $400,000 to settle claims brought by a survivor who was sexually assaulted by former juvenile detention center employee David Stevenson while she was 15-years-old and incarcerated at the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center. Stevenson, who worked at the center from 2016-2017 was charged in 2017 with multiple counts of sexual assault involving five female juveniles at the facility. He was sentenced to 10 to 25 years after pleading guilty.

Cresson Secure Treatment Unit

• In January 2010, a Department of Justice report found that the Cresson Secure Treatment Unit in Cambria County had some of the highest rates of sexual victimization reported by youth inmates in the nation. According to the DOJ report, which surveyed thousands of juvenile inmates in facilities across the country between June 2008 and April 2009, one out of every three youth incarcerated at Cresson reported that they experienced sexual victimization in custody – a rate nearly three times the national average.

Fairmount Behavioral Health

• In April 2021, a former staffer at Fairmount Behavioral Health pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a female patient at the facility in 2020. The staffer had been charged with rape.

• Records reviewed by reporters following the arrest of the staffer revealed that police had been called to Fairmount Behavioral Health nearly 100 times between 2015 and 2019 in response to alleged rapes and sexual assaults.

Horsham Clinic

• In January 2022, a staffer at Horsham Clinic was arrested and charged with child sex abuse. The charges included allegations that the staffer groomed a 16-year-old girl who was a patient at the facility, sending her explicit images and texting her to arrange sexual encounters. The staffer faced more than 80 charges. 

Wordsworth Academy

• In April 2017, investigations revealed a long history of serious abuse allegations at Wordsworth Academy. 

For example, police records showed that, over 10 years, police were called to Wordsworth more than 800 times for minor and major crimes, including 12 reports of rape, two of sexual assault, seven of indecent exposure, four of corrupting a minor, and one of child endangerment.

In one case, staff member Norman Thompson allegedly sexually assaulted a victim by touching her genitals and forcing her to touch him. Thompson was later arrested.

In another case, a staff member allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl.

In 2008, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly assaulted by a staff member.

The Philadelphia Inquirer also reported that youth at Wordsworth were allegedly forced to live and sleep in unsafe rooms, with holes in the walls, exposed wiring, broken light fixtures, and heaters that didn’t work. 

• In October 2016, 17-year-old David Hess died after an alleged altercation with staff at Wordsworth Academy. 

Staff allegedly accused the victim of stealing and he became aggressive. Employees allegedly used force to restrain him, punching him in the ribs and putting him in a headlock. The victim allegedly cried out that he couldn’t breathe.

Two weeks before the incident, an employee allegedly punched the victim in the chest. A month before the incident, another employee allegedly hit him in the face.

David’s family was first told he died after falling out of bed and hitting his head. Later, Wordsworth officials said he hit his head during a fight with staff. However, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death was a lack of oxygen.

The victim’s death resulted in the facility shutting down in 2016.

Read More: ‘Reminds me of the Catholic Church sex abuse’: PA juvenile centers facing sex abuse claims

LK Investigating Juvenile Detention and Residential Treatment Sex Abuse Across Pennsylvania

Levy Konigsberg is now investigating cases of staff-on-youth sexual abuse that occurred at any Pennsylvania juvenile detention or youth residential treatment facility or reform school in Pennsylvania.

You may have a potential claim if you were sexually abused while housed in these or any other juvenile detention or residential treatment center or program:

• Abraxas Juvenile Detention Center
• Adelphoi
• Belmont Behavioral Health
• Brooke Glen Behavioral Health System
• Carson Valley Children’s Aid
• Children’s Home of Easton
• Cresson Secure Treatment Center
• Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center
• Devereux
• Fairmount Behavioral Health
• Foundations Behavioral Health
• Friends Hospital
• George Junior Republic
• Glen Mills School
• Horsham Clinic
• Kidspeace
• Lancaster County Juvenile Detention Center
• Loysville Youth Development Center
• Meadows
• Mid-Atlantic Youth Services
• Montgomery County Youth Center
• North Central Secure Treatment Unit
• Northwestern Academy
• PA Child Care
• Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center (formerly known as Youth Study Center)
• Presbyterian Children’s Village (Gemma Services)
• Pressley Ridge (Pittsburgh)
• Shuman Juvenile Detention Center
• Silver Springs Martin Luther School (now Gemma Services)
• South Mountain Secure Treatment Unit
• Southwood Psychiatric Hospital
• St. Gabriel’s Hall
• Summit Academy
• VisionQuest Pennsylvania
• White Deer Run
• Wordsworth Academy

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

Pennsylvania Sexual Abuse  Attorneys

In Pennsylvania, the current statute of limitations for civil sex abuse claims is the age of adulthood plus 37 years, which means that survivors sexually abused as minors typically have until the age of 55 to file legal action, as long as they were born after November 26, 1989.

As in other states across the country, Pennsylvania’s current statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims has been criticized for barring numerous survivors from seeking justice and compensation for their damages and for failing to recognize accepted research about the considerable difficulties survivors face when processing their abuse and taking steps to come forward. Thanks to new efforts by advocates and lawmakers, however, there are now several pending measures before the Pennsylvania Legislature that seek to expand the rights of child sex abuse survivors.

These groundbreaking measures, which are expected to pass, will create new opportunities for survivors to step forward and obtain long-overdue justice. If passed, these measures would create a temporary two-year window for child sexual abuse survivors to file claims over abuse that occurred at any time in the past.

Levy Konigsberg is actively investigating allegations of sexual abuse at any Pennsylvania juvenile detention and youth residential treatment centers.

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.