Three more lawsuits alleging sexual abuse in Oregon juvenile detention centers

A total of 16 former and current employees of the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) are named as defendants in six different lawsuits accusing them of sexual abuse and misconduct at two different youth correctional facilities in Oregon.

The lawsuits accuse three former OYA employees of sexual abuse and claim that their supervisors, who are still employed by OYA, should have known about the abuse and prevented it.

“We believe this problem is widespread and not just limited to the staff who are alleged to have sexually abused these youth, but that it reaches up the chain and is far more comprehensive than just these six losses,” said Norah Van Dusen, an attorney with Levi Merrithew Horst PC, the firm that filed all six lawsuits.

The three new lawsuits were filed on Sept. 18. One alleges sexual abuse of a then-15-year-old boy at the McLaren Juvenile Detention Center near Woodburn. The second alleges sexual abuse of a 21-year-old man incarcerated at McLaren. The third alleges sexual abuse of a 20-year-old woman at the Oak Creek Juvenile Detention Center in Albany.

The three defendants accused of directly engaging in sexual acts with the plaintiffs are Emily Echtencamp, Travis Craft and Cherie MacDougall.

In a written statement, OYA said all three were placed on administrative leave after allegations of sexual abuse were made against them and an investigation was launched. All three resigned from their positions shortly thereafter and OYA turned the investigation over to the Oregon State Police.

“The conduct we are accused of is completely contrary to our values ​​and commitments to our youth, as demonstrated by our 100 percent success rate in independent Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) audits over the past two years,” William Howell, a spokesperson for OYA, wrote in a press release. “We will continue to provide our youth with multiple opportunities to report violations and encourage them to report them. We will continue to investigate quickly and take decisive action when individuals undermine our work.”

Van Dusen said regardless of the age and circumstances of the victims, all cases are equally serious and all involve sexual abuse.

“It's really important to reiterate that any sexual contact between staff and young people is abuse and there is no grey area here. There are no exceptions,” she said. “Often young people who are sexually abused, particularly in institutional settings, do not realise until some time later that what happened to them was abuse. We encourage anyone who has been abused to come forward and we want to acknowledge again how much courage it took for each of these complainants to come forward and speak about their experiences.”