THOMAS J.S. WAXTER CHILDREN’S CENTER SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fierce Advocacy From an Award-Winning Sexual Abuse Team

Levy Konigsberg is leading the fight for former youth inmates who were sexually abused in juvenile detention facilities across Maryland and is actively investigating claims from survivors who were abused at the Thomas J.S. Waxter Children’s Center in Laurel.

As the state’s primary juvenile detention facility until its closure in 2022, the Thomas J.S. Waxter Children’s Center faced years of criticism over poor conditions, inadequately trained staff, and rampant violence. As the record shows, Waxter supervisors also struggled to reign in a culture of concealment and cover ups that enabled staff-on-inmate sexual abuse to persist for decades.

Now, Levy Konigsberg is helping a growing number of former youth inmates seek justice under newly expanded Maryland laws that allow for claims to be filed over child sexual abuse that occurred at any time in the past. We currently represent over 400 former youth inmates in claims involving sexual abuse in Maryland juvenile detention facilities, including numerous survivors who were housed at the Thomas J.S. Waxter Children’s Center. If you have a potential case, we want to help.

Levy Konigsberg is Leading the Fight for Thomas J.S. Waxter Sex Abuse Survivors

Levy Konigsberg is leading the charge for survivors who were sexually abused at juvenile detention facilities across Maryland, including many who now have the renewed right to pursue justice and compensation under the state’s recently passed Child Victims Act.

• In February 2024, our firm filed suit on behalf of 63 men and women who were sexually abused at 15 different Maryland juvenile detention facilities, including the Thomas J.S. Waxter Children’s Center. The suits include claims over sexual abuse that date back as far as the 1960s and as recently as the 2010s and cites numerous failures by the State of Maryland in investigating and stopping the abuse.
• In November and December 2023, our firm filed lawsuits on behalf of more than 80 survivors who had been sexually abused as children at Thomas J.S. Waxter Children’s Center, Cheltenham Youth Detention Center, and Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School. These suits were covered by the Baltimore Sun and the Associated Press in articles highlighting the bravery of survivors who are finally being heard.

Our firm currently represents over 200 survivors sexually abused in Maryland juvenile detention centers and continues to hear from numerous others who are taking courageous steps to seek justice and assert their rights under new Maryland laws.

At Levy Konigsberg, we’re proud to serve as bold and unwavering advocates for these survivors and are committed to helping as many people as we can. If you have questions about any of our pending cases or a potential case of your own, we encourage you to reach out for a FREE and confidential consultation.

Records Paint Damning History of Abuse at Waxter Children’s Center

The Thomas J.S. Waxter Children’s Center was a secure detention center for female youth operated by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. Prior to its closure in 2022, it was the state’s primary detention facility for girls.

Over its many years in operation, the Waxter Children’s Center was mired in controversy. From various reports, investigations, and legal filings, the record shows that Waxter struggled with poor conditions, violent and abusive staff, and a chronic lack of oversight. These problems and the Center’s prisonlike environment contributed to a pervasive staff-on-inmate sexual abuse problem.

Some of the investigations and legal filings that detail the history of abuse at Waxter include:

• In December 2023, The Baltimore Sun profiled 20 lawsuits filed by Levy Konigsberg on behalf of women who were sexually abused as minors while housed at the Thomas J.S. Waxter Children’s Center. According to our lawsuits, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) overwhelmingly failed to protect youth inmates or punish abusers, which included counselors, supervisors, and other facility staff, and facilitated a traumatizing, prisonlike environment where staff-on-inmate sexual abuse thrived. Our firm filed additional lawsuits on behalf of Waxter sex abuse survivors in February 2024 and continues to investigate more.
• In December 2016, an article published in The Baltimore Sun revealed alarming findings about gender inequality in Maryland’s juvenile justice system and serious problems in facilities, like Waxter Children’s Center, that primarily housed girls. According to the article, female youth in Maryland were disproportionately incarcerated for low-level offenses and were more likely to be taken before a judge for minor infractions such as breaking curfew, running away, or defying their parents. The article also noted how Waxter and other girls’ facilities were unsafe, dilapidated, and lacking in rehabilitative services when compared to facilities for male youth and that half of the 330 suicide attempts and reported suicide ideations across all of Maryland’s juvenile facilities in 2015 were at Waxter.
• In December 2009, an article published by The Daily Record detailed a push by advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Advocates for Children and Youth, to shut down the Waxter Children’s Center, which had been the subject of four special reports from the Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit of the Attorney General’s Office between 2006 and 2009. Advocates cited, among many problematic reasons, the ongoing abuse of children by unqualified staff and the Monitoring Unit’s own recommendation to shutter the facility.
• In March 2007, a Special Report by Maryland’s Independent Juvenile Justice Monitor concluded that Waxter had “outlived its usefulness” and recommended that it be shut down. The report further noted that the facility was plagued by inadequate training, insufficient staffing, cruel overuse of solitary confinement and seclusion, and a dangerous lack of sightlines in the facility’s design, making it easier for staff to hide what was going on in the facility.
• In May 2006, the Washington Post published an article chronicling the many problems that plagued juvenile justice facilities in Maryland. The article cited reports on conditions at Waxter and other Maryland youth centers which found that DJS facilities continued to be sites for rampant child abuse, assaults, underfunding, inadequate training, and overly aggressive staff. It also quoted Maryland’s former Independent Monitor as saying that such conditions appeared to have been unchanged from his many years monitoring DJS facilities.
• In May 2006, another article published by The Baltimore Sun detailed similar problems with Maryland juvenile facilities, as well as a report filed by Maryland’s Independent Juvenile Justice Monitor after witnessing a Waxter staff member punching a girl in DJS custody while she screamed for him to get off of her.

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

Maryland Sexual Abuse Attorneys

Maryland has been a frontrunner in passing legislation that greatly expands the rights of sexual abuse survivors – and especially survivors of child sexual abuse.

Thanks to the Child Victims Act, which was signed into law in April 2023 by Governor Wes Moore, survivors who were sexually abused as minors in Maryland now have unprecedented opportunities to pursue justice against their abusers and any institutions that failed to protect them.

Here are some key details about Child Victims Act of 2023:

• The CVA eliminates the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits based on child sexual abuse, which means that there is no deadline by which survivors must initiate legal action.
• The CVA creates an unlimited lookback period that allows child sexual abuse survivors to file lawsuits over abuse that occurred at any time in the past, even if such claims were barred by the previous statute of limitations.

The Child Victims Act went into effect on October 1, 2023, and prison and juvenile detention systems with long histories of child sexual abuse are seeing a growing number claims brought by survivors abused years and decades ago.

While Maryland has significantly revised state laws regarding the statute of limitations for civil suits brought by child sexual abuse laws, it has not done so for claims brought by adult survivors.

Under Maryland state law, if the victim was an adult at the time of the abuse, the statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit is 3 years from the date of the abuse – no matter if the claim if brought against the alleged abuse or an institution.

Given the 3-year statute of limitations for adult sexual abuse lawsuits, it is advised that survivors with potential claims seek legal counsel as soon as possible.

Levy Konigsberg is actively investigating allegations of sexual abuse at Maryland juvenile detention 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.