Federal Lawsuit Alleges Teenagers Were Kept in Isolation Cells at a Kentucky Juvenile Detention Center

Two teenage girls held at a troubled Kentucky juvenile detention center were kept in isolation cells for weeks in unsanitary conditions, including a padded cell with no toilet, a federal class-action lawsuit filed this week alleges.

The teens were held at the Adair County Youth Detention Center in late 2022, around the same time state police reported a riot at the facility that started when a juvenile assaulted a staff member. That and other violent incidents at juvenile facilities prompted Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration to enact new policies that placed male juveniles charged with serious crimes in separate facilities and create a female-only detention center in northern Kentucky.

The lawsuit filed Monday also details alleged incidents with other youths at the center, including one who it says was being held in an isolation cell with “a Spanish version of ‘Baby Shark’ playing on a loop” and another who it alleges “spent days soaked in menstrual blood” while staffers insulted her about her hygiene.

Read the source article at AP News