Problems continue to mount at Wayne County’s troubled juvenile detention center, where state monitors meant to help ensure the facility’s safety have been evicted after one was accused of sexually abusing a detainee.
Those monitors were placed in the county’s juvenile detention facility last March, after the alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old by other detainees. The facility had also been struggling with understaffing and deteriorating, decrepit conditions, to the point that the state took steps toward possibly revoking its license.
But now, one of those state monitors is accused of criminal sexual conduct and child abuse of a 15-year-old inmate. In a statement, Wayne County said an investigation revealed at least two other state employees were involved, and County Executive Warren Evans has now dismissed all state employees from the facility.
“Due to the serious nature of these allegations and based upon evidence collected thus far, concerns arise about the monitors' impartiality,” the county said. “Therefore, to ensure the safety and welfare of the youth in our care and to protect the integrity of the on-going investigation, all state employees have been removed from the facility under the County Executive’s direction. Upon completing the investigation, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office will submit its findings to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for further action.”
The statement said that the accused state employee, who had been detailed to the detention center from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, was “promptly removed” from their position and subsequently arrested. As of this point, the employee “has been formally processed on allegations of criminal sexual conduct and child abuse and released pending further investigation,” the county stated. Wayne County is collaborating with the state in the ongoing investigation.
“We are profoundly saddened that state employees entrusted to care for children would exploit them,” the county’s statement concluded.
