HUNTINGTON – A dozen former juvenile residents of River Park Hospital say they were sexually abused there by guards, counselors and others while they say the facility “turned a blind eye to this culture of abuse.”
The twelve plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in Cabell Circuit Court against Universal Health Services Inc and HHC River Park Inc. doing business as River Park Hospital, which is a residential treatment facility for the mental hygiene of committed adolescents. River Park is a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services.
According to the complaint, all of the plaintiffs – who are identified only by their initials – were born after October 1, 1988, and fall within the statute of limitations.
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“The sexual abuse at juvenile detention facilities operated by the defendants have ranged from inappropriate strip searches to rape using violent physical force,” the complaint states. “Defendants’ agents have had inappropriate and criminal sexual relationships with children at its facilities, oftentimes involving bribery and grooming.
“Children detained at defendants’ facilities were regularly offered contraband –such as cigarettes, drugs, candy and alcohol – or privileges in exchange for sexual favors. … The culture of abuse nonetheless continues to be a reality for children detained in facilities operated by defendants to this day.”
The complaint says the defendants knew or should have known of the abuse being a “persistent and prevalent problem” in their facilities.
“For decades, defendants have been made aware of the ongoing sexual abuse of children in their care through various investigations and reports and through numerous allegations by children at its treatment facility, extensive media reporting and criminal proceedings against their employees and agents,” the complaint states, citing a couple of previously filed lawsuits.
The complaint details facts specific to each of the dozen plaintiffs, who are both male and female. The earliest listed incident among these 12 plaintiffs occurred in 2004, and the youngest age of a victim is 9 years old.
The complaint lists such incidents as River Park counselors and guards fondling juveniles over and under their clothing, expose themselves to the juveniles, making sexual comments to and about the juveniles, forcing juveniles to perform oral sex on them, performing oral sex on the juveniles, forcibly raping the juveniles, forcing juveniles to have sex with each other while River Park employees watched, masturbating in front of the juveniles and forcing juveniles to masturbate the staffers.
It also details how the alleged abusers would bribe, threaten and harass the juveniles to remain quiet about the abuse. It also says some of the juveniles were drugged by River Park staff members.
It also details one incident in which one of the juveniles ended up having to appear before a judge following an incident in which she says she was forced to have sex with another juvenile resident while a female guard watched. The judge ruled the girl incorrigible and admitted her to the facility for eight more months. When she reported the guard to another staff member, the girl says she lost all privileges and was denied her medications.
“When she would say anything about this situation, she would be given a shot of drugs that made her fall asleep,” the complaint states.
The plaintiffs accuse the defendants of negligence, negligent supervision, negligent hiring, negligent training, negligent supervision, gross negligence, negligence per se and breach of fiduciary duty.
They seek compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs and other relief. They are being represented by Steve New and Christopher Frost of Stephen New & Associates in Beckley. The case was assigned to Circuit Judge Paul Farrell, but it later was reassigned to Judge Corky Hammers.
Cabell Circuit Court case number 24-C-410