Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice

A lawsuit by nearly 100 former detainees alleges Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice officials allowed rampant sexual abuse in its detention centers between 1996 and 2017.

The chief judge over the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center in rural southern Illinois abruptly moved to close it as of Dec. 31, citing staffing shortages that made it difficult to meet new state standards governing the treatment of youth in custody.