WASHINGTON, May 7, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Bailey & Glasser, LLP and co-counsel have filed
a complaint on behalf of 95 survivors of sexual abuse against the
State of Illinois, alleging that
the Illinois Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile
Justice failed to protect children from rampant sexual abuse
perpetrated by adult employees at Illinois Youth Centers in
Chicago, Murphysboro, Valley View, Joliet, Kewanee, Warrenville, St.
Charles, Pere Marquette, and Harrisburg. As alleged in the
complaint filed on May 6, 2024,
between 1996 and 2017, hundreds of youths were victimized in
Illinois Youth Centers.
Bailey Glasser seeks justice on behalf of
sexual abuse survivors in Illinois.
Bailey Glasser is on the forefront of lawsuits seeking justice
on behalf of childhood sexual abuse survivors and has brought
hundreds of similar lawsuits in the State
of Maryland on behalf of survivors of abuse in its juvenile
hall detention facilities.
Partner D. Todd Mathews, lead
counsel on the Bailey Glasser litigation team, stated: "The abuse
suffered by our clients, then minors entrusted to the care of the
State of Illinois, created great
suffering and has reverberated across their lives. We salute their
strength and we're honored to fight for these survivors in
court."
As alleged in the complaint, the Illinois juvenile detention centers
systemically failed to protect youth inmates from violence and
sexual abuse perpetrated by staff, and several had the highest
rates of sexual victimization in the nation according to the U.S.
Department of Justice. The records show that the Illinois
Department of Juvenile Justice and related entities that operated
these youth facilities allowed staff to abuse these minors for
decades. The 95 survivors in the case filed yesterday include
plaintiffs sexually abused when they were children ranging from
ages 12 to 17. The perpetrators of the sexual abuse were
correctional officers, counselors, supervisors, and other Illinois
Youth Center staff.
The lawsuit filed by Bailey Glasser, along with co-counsel Levy
Konigsberg and DiCello Levitt, was brought under the recently
amended Childhood Sexual Abuse Act as codified at 735 ILCS
5/13-202.2. This statute allows survivors to pursue damages from
their abusers and from the institutions that enabled the abuse by
increasing the time in which survivors of sexual abuse are
permitted to come forward and file civil lawsuits.
The Bailey Glasser litigation team includes D. Todd Mathews; founding partner Brian A. Glasser (recently named by Forbes one
of "America's Top 200 Lawyers"); partner and Mass Tort Practice
Group Leader David L. Selby; and
lawyer Samira Z. Bode.
Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Bailey &
Glasser, LLP is a national law firm handling high-impact and
high-stakes litigation and corporate matters across the country. To
learn more about our work, lawyers, and locations, please visit
www.BaileyGlasser.com
MEDIA REQUESTS: To schedule an interview with counsel or for
other media inquiries, please contact Joe
Carey at joe@careystrategiccommunications.com.
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SOURCE Bailey & Glasser, LLP