Nine More Survivors of Sexual Assault Provide Notice of Abuse at the Clark County Juvenile Justice Center, Reports Schauermann Thayer

CLARK COUNTY, Wash., May 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 21, 2026, nine people notified Clark County of their intention to file a lawsuit against the County. They allege to have been sexually abused as children while in County custody at the Clark County Juvenile Justice Center. These survivors, all now adults, join eight others who, in February of this year, filed a lawsuit against the County for sexual abuse. Like the eight who already filed their own lawsuit against the County for sexual abuse, these nine are also represented by Scott Edwards, Sara Schirato, and Ben Melnick, attorneys at Schauermann Thayer in Vancouver. The total number of claimants against the County is now seventeen.

Collectively the nine new claimants allege they were sexually abused by County employees while incarcerated in the Clark County Juvenile Justice Center between 1990 and 2014, when each was between 12 and 17 years old.

Guards are alleged to have threatened the children to force compliance and to be quiet about what was done. Alleged threats included longer sentences, revocation of family visitation, and in one instance to "bite off his penis if he spoke to anyone about the sexual abuse." Guards were also alleged to have rewarded silence with cigarettes, candy, extra food, and privileges.

Offending guards are identified both by name and general descriptions including, "a tall Caucasian male with black hair, heavy set, and a foul body odor" or "a Caucasian male with a larger build, darkish brown hair, and some facial hair" or simply as wearing "cowboy boots and tight pants."

The claimants allege that "numerous Clark County staff routinely subjected children in custody to acts of sexual abuse" and that Clark County failed to protect against sexual abuse, sustained a culture of abuse, failed to create and operate legitimate safety mechanisms to report misconduct, and failed to take action in response to sexual abuse reports." They further describe the County's conduct as "atrocious" and that the County's conduct exhibited "patterns and practices [which] culminated into an environment where [County] employees grooming and sexually abusing children could thrive." They report telling other guards about the abuse, but noted the County "didn't seem to care and nothing was ever done" about the reports.

Harms alleged by the claimants include "physical, emotional, and psychological trauma, leading to significant anguish and distress." They claim damages including, "a fair amount of compensation for mental anguish and emotional distress, pain, suffering, disability, inconvenience, loss, diminishment, or impairment of activities previously enjoyed, and loss of society and companionship."

Scott Edwards, the attorney representing the abuse survivors stated, "After filing the lawsuit in February, we began receiving calls from others who were raped and sexually assaulted while children at the Juvenile Justice Center. The patterns of sexual abuse echoed the voices of those survivors we already represented, and we hope to bring justice for these survivors as well. This type of behavior has no place in our community. It must stop."

Those providing notice must wait at least sixty days to allow the County to respond to the allegations before filing a lawsuit against the County for abuse. The case filed in February in Clark County Superior Court, D.K., D.J., E.P., H.E., J.W., J.C., S.B., Z.C. v. CLARK COUNTY, Clark County Superior Court, Case No. 26-2-00732-06.

Survivors interested in pursuing legal action in their fight for justice are urged to contact Schauermann Thayer at (360) 695-4244.

SOURCE Schauermann Thayer PS