On Monday, attorneys filed two lawsuits against Cook County and the State of Illinois, alleging decades of abuse at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC), formerly known as Audy Home.
The complaint, more than 400 pages long, alleges staff at the detention center "sexually abused" inmates.
It cites "chronic mismanagement, patronage, overcrowding, and inadequate supervision," for creating an "environment of violence, fear, and sexual abuse for decades."
The complaint goes on to say "Cook County has had notice of such abuse for decades and nonetheless neglected to protect its confined youth from sexual abuse and failed to implement policies necessary to ensure such protection."
A spokesperson for the state and county each told NBC Chicago they do not comment on pending litigation.
"Instead of getting help, I was preyed on and abused by employees of the detention center," Shamika, one of the plaintiffs who shared their stories during a news conference said.
"I was abused nearly two decades ago, but it still affects me to this day."
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Shamika, now 33, said she was 14 years old at the time of the alleged abuse in 2005.
Temarkus Washington, now 35, paints a similar, grim picture.
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"The act those staff members forced me to do still gives me nightmares," said Washington, who was 16 at the time of the alleged abuse.
"I was raised by a single mother, with four siblings, in a neighborhood with lots of gangs and fighting. As a kid, I looked up to the wrong people," he said of how he ended up in JTDC.
"Three staff members took advantage of my fear and confusion and sexually abused me."
The plaintiffs said they hope sharing their story will inspire others to come forward and inspire change at the facility.
"Talking about my abuse feels like a weight lifted off my shoulders," Phillip Goodwin, another plaintiff, said.
"This is a facility that is supposed to keep children safe and supposed to rehabilitate children," said attorney Jerome Block, a partner at Levy Konigsberg LLP. "The perpetrators in these cases are detention officers, counselors, medical staff, even supervisors. The very people entrusted with keeping children safe were the ones perpetrating the sexual abuse."
The suits filed Monday include 193 plaintiffs, men and women.
"We now have 395 cases in Illinois on file against Cook County and the State of Illinois," said attorney Todd Mathews, a partner at Bailey & Glasser LLP.
Of those cases, 47% are from Cook County. The remainder are cases involving state-operated Illinois Youth Centers, according to Mathews and Block.
"We’ve got folks as young as 9 years old who were abused. This happened over and over and over again from 1995 until current. It’s still going on," Mathews said.
Attorneys said their clients were between 9 and 17 years old at the time of the alleged abuse, which took place between 1995 and 2022.
