Three lawsuits filed against Oregon Youth Authority staff, citing sexual abuse

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Three people who were once detained at two Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) correctional facilities each filed lawsuits against staff this week, claiming they were sexually abused and subject to civil rights violations while incarcerated.

These latest lawsuits join three others also filed this year against OYA staff for previous and ongoing abuse.

Court documents state the plaintiffs in the recently filed cases, who ranged in age from 15 to 21 at the time of the reported abuse, were each allegedly groomed and coerced into sexual relations with OYA staff who worked at MacLaren and Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facilities.

According to a statement from the law firm of Levi Merrithew Horst, who represents the plaintiffs in these cases, two of the defendants named in the complaints were group life coordinators who were responsible for overseeing daily living activities and guiding the incarcerated youth.

One of the plaintiffs, named "A.G." in the documents, was placed at the Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility when she was 17. The suit alleged that when she was 20 years old in 2021, OYA staff member and group life coordinator Travis Craft began working on her living unit and immediately began grooming her by "engaging her in inappropriate sexual conversations." Over the course of four months, Craft allegedly coerced A.G. into a forced sexual relationship.

Craft is currently facing seven criminal charges for abusing A.G., including felony charges for first-degree custodial sexual misconduct.

Another plaintiff, known as "D.H.," was 17 years old when he was placed at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. The suit states that his sentence would have been contingent on his progress in OYA treatment. In 2022, when he was 21 years old, group life coordinator Cherie MacDougall was assigned to his living unit and - court documents state - over the course of four months, groomed D.H. by giving him contraband such as marijuana dab pens. She then allegedly coerced him into a sexual relationship, reportedly threatening him with "serious consequences" should he speak up.

The third plaintiff, "O.G." was 15 when MacDougall allegedly began grooming him, supplying him with contraband drugs even though he needed to demonstrate sobriety to earn parole. The documents further state that MacDougall began a coerced sexual relationship with O.G. as he became more reliant on her for drugs. Due to this, O.G.'s time in the facility was extended.

However, when O.G. was transferred to another unit, he reportedly "made swift and significant progress in his substance abuse treatment."

Each of the suits detail that it was "widely known" that MacLaren and Oak Creek had many staff members who allegedly groomed or sexually assaulted their incarcerated youth. As a result, the OYA director, Oak Creek superintendent, MacLaren superintendent and a Unit Manager were named additional defendants.

"Sexual contact between staff and youth is abuse," stressed Attorney Norah Van Dusen with Levi Merrithew Horst. "Every staff member that has knowledge of abuse occurring has an obligation to say something and to intervene and to fail to do so is to fail in their responsibility to these youth. And again, these youth are some of the most vulnerable members of our state. They're some of the most vulnerable members of our society. And the staff that both abused these youth and that stood by and did nothing really capitalized on that vulnerability."

Van Dusen also noted how their investigation has revealed these are not isolated cases, but a systemic issue throughout OYA.

"We believe that the stories of these six plaintiffs are really just the tip of the iceberg and that the problem is much more widespread," she added. "We believe that it encompasses likely all of the facilities that are run by the Oregon Youth Authority and that there are many more youth out there who have been similarly abused. We do not believe that these are six isolated incidents that these are just a few bad apples within the system."

A spokesperson with OYA released a comment on the suits, stating:

"The conduct alleged runs completely against our values and commitments to our youth, as reflected by our 100% success rate in independent PREA audits over the last two years. We will continue to offer multiple avenues for our youth to report violations, and to encourage reporting. We will continue to swiftly investigate, and take decisive action when individuals undermine our work."

According to Van Dusen, the cases will work their way through the federal court system. But this could take a number of years before a resolution. However, she anticipates more current and former incarcerated youth will be coming forward in that time.