Photo credit: Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice
Michael Moss carried shame and guilt for years after being sexually abused as a teenager by guards at a troubled juvenile detention center in Chicago. Now 30, Moss spoke out publicly on Tuesday about his traumatic experiences, joining hundreds of survivors who have filed lawsuits detailing widespread sexual abuse in youth detention facilities across Illinois, Sophia Tareen of the Associated Press reported.
“I wouldn’t wish my situation on anyone,” Moss said at a news conference, surrounded by about half a dozen other survivors. “I hope justice is served for the pain and suffering we endured as kids.”
The Associated Press generally does not name individuals who report assault unless they choose to go public, as Moss and others involved in the lawsuits have. Most plaintiffs in the cases are identified only by their initials.
Since May, a total of 667 individuals have come forward in lawsuits alleging they were sexually abused as children in youth facilities across Illinois. These cases are part of a broader wave of similar lawsuits filed against juvenile detention centers in states such as Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, California, and New York.
The latest complaints filed in Illinois on Monday detail alleged abuse spanning from 1996 to 2021, including rape, forced oral sex, and physical assaults by corrections officers, nurses, kitchen staff, chaplains, and others. These allegations, based on the accounts of 272 individuals, pertain to both state-run juvenile detention facilities and a county-operated center in Chicago.
Michael Moss, who was 17 when he was detained at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center for “a few mistakes,” said staff soon began abusing him. His lawsuit, filed Monday, claims that two guards repeatedly isolated him in a bathroom and his cell, forcing him into sex acts on multiple occasions. One guard threatened solitary confinement if Moss didn’t comply.
Prosecuting cases such as Moss’ has proved difficult.
Few cases across the country have gone to trial or resulted in settlements, and arrests have been rare.
Attorneys argue that local prosecutors have enough information to begin building cases and criticized Illinois state leaders, where the sheer number of cases stands out nationally.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, whose office has investigated church sex abuse cases, have declined to comment due to pending litigation. Officials from the Illinois Department of Corrections, Department of Juvenile Justice, and Cook County, all named in several complaints, have also refrained from commenting.
The allegations in the lawsuits share disturbing similarities.
Many plaintiffs reported that their abusers threatened them with beatings, transfers to harsher facilities, or extended sentences if they spoke up. Others were rewarded with cigarettes or food for their silence. Most of the alleged abusers are only identified through physical descriptions, first names, or nicknames, as remembered by the survivors.
Moss hopes the lawsuit will reveal more, including the full names of the guards he says abused him. Despite the years that have passed and having a family of his own, he still finds it difficult to speak about the trauma and that he just wants the abuse to stop.
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