Bailey & Glasser, LLP Files Lawsuit Against the State of Illinois on Behalf of Survivors of Sexual Assault & Abuse

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 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 25^th 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 [email protected].

SOURCE Bailey & Glasser, LLP