State officials have agreed to pay $650,000 to settle a federal lawsuit from the mother of a 12-year-old boy who said he was beaten and raped in 2023 by other youths in Wayne County’s juvenile jail.
The boy’s mother sued county and state officials last year, accusing county staff of improper supervision and placing her son in a unit with older residents — including one who was over the age of 18 and at least one other juvenile who had a history of criminal sexual conduct.
The state payment was disclosed in a settlement agreement filed Friday, Sept. 12, with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The total proposed settlement is $2 million, including $1.35 million that was approved by the Wayne County Commission in August to be paid by the county.
The settlement still needs to be approved by the court.
More: Wayne County could pay $1.35M to settle lawsuit over reported rape at juvenile jail
The county runs the facility, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services oversees its license to operate. A spokesperson for MDHHS could not immediately be reached for comment. The mother’s attorney, Cary McGehee, had no comment
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The 2023 incident happened at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility’s former temporary location in the William Dickerson Detention Facility, a vacant adult jail in Hamtramck.
Contact Christine MacDonald: cmacdonald@freepress.com or 313-418-2149. Follow her on X: @cmacfreep.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: State to pay out $650,000 over reported rape at Wayne Co. juvenile jail