ADAIR COUNTY, Ky. — WARNING: Some details listed in the lawsuit may be too disturbing for some audiences. Reader discretion is advised.
A new lawsuit claims children at the Adair County Youth Detention Center were abused and neglected, often being held in isolation cells for weeks without access to basic hygiene.
On Jan. 15, the federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of two women against the facility, the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice, Cabinet for Health and Family Services and other state and facility leaders.
The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, claims staff at the Columbia, Kentucky facility violated the civil rights of potentially "hundreds" of youths who are currently housed, or have been through the facility.
The Adair County Youth Detention Center has been at the center of concern for years.
What does the new lawsuit claim?
The lawsuit alleges staff at the Adair County Youth Detention Center often "exposed girls' naked bodies to members of the opposite sex, either through conducting the forcible removal of clothing or withholding clothing while in view of employees and other detainees." It also said male staff would regularly conduct cell check of girls who were naked.
Attorneys for the women, who are now adults, said the facility has been "chronically understaffed," claiming it frequently operates with only five staff members while housing roughly 40 kids. The suit said to remedy this, youth would be held in lockdown for days or weeks at a time.
RELATED: Report raises concerns about youth locked in isolation at Adair County Youth Detention Center
Jamiahia Kennedy is listed as one of the girls in the lawsuit. She was housed at the facility for four months, between August to December 2022. During that time, the suit alleges she was kept in an isolation cell and was allowed to shower only 15 times.
Following a suicide attempt, Kennedy said she was moved to a padded cell where male employees cut off her clothing, the suit said.
She stayed in the cell, which lacked a toilet or bed, for roughly two months. Urine and feces overflowed into the cell, she said.
Kennedy was later given an anti-suicide smock, which officials later removed, but didn't provide her with clothing or shower access for nearly 12 days, according to the lawsuit.
On several occasions, she said, she would ask for feminine hygiene products but was denied.
Despite Kennedy being diagnosed with serious mental health conditions, the suit said, she received no mental health treatment. She said in November 2022, staff withheld prescribed medications from her and other youth as a form of collective punishment.
Another plaintiff in the lawsuit, Willow Neal, was held at the detention center between Nov. 10 and Dec. 15, 2022. She was 17 years old and seven months pregnant at the time.
Medical providers advised she not be locked down in an isolation cell, but staff reportedly disregarded those concerns. The suit claims Neal was held in an insect-infested isolation cell during her time at the facility.
When she asked for cleaning supplies to clean the cell herself, the suit said those requests were denied.
Neal said she was allowed only 12 showers and let out to take a walk only five times throughout her time at the facility.
Instead of educational instruction, the lawsuit said Neal received workbooks to complete on her own, but she didn't receive any school credit for doing that work.
Neal, also diagnosed with serious mental health conditions, did not receive proper treatment nor prescribed medications, according to the suit.
Among those specific concerns, listed in the lawsuit, it includes other instances of abuse at the facility:
- In the summer of 2022, medical staff reported increasing alarm over a young girl's deteriorating mental and physical health while in an isolation cell without running water and frequently without light.
- Another child was held in an isolation cell with the door's window covered and a Spanish version of "Baby Shark" playing on loop.
- Kennedy and Neal both reported seeing a girl spend days soaked in menstrual blood while staff told her she was "nasty" and "smelled like fish."
Who is listed in the lawsuit?
The lawsuit was filed against the Adair County Youth Detention Center, the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice, the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and several state and facility leaders.
One of the defendants listed is outgoing Juvenile Justice Commissioner Vicki Reed.
The lawsuit alleges Reed was tasked with visiting the detention center in the summer of 2022. During that visit, she was directed to observe the condition of the isolation cells. The lawsuit claims she didn't "because she was too busy."
It also mentions the detention center's superintendent Tonya Burton. According to the lawsuit, she and other staff "regularly falsified incident reports in an effort to conceal the suffering" of children at the facility.
The lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a jury trial.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) said the cabinet nor the DJJ have been served the lawsuit.
"However, we have obtained a copy and reviewed the complaint," Communications Director Morgan Hall said on Wednesday. "DJJ works tirelessly to provide safe and effective services to the juveniles in its care. For any staff member who violates policy and procedure, corrective action is taken. We deny the allegations in the lawsuit and will defend accordingly."
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