PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An organization founded to help those with behavioral health issues is being sued after 13 former residents allege they were sexually assaulted.
The lawsuit was filed in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas against the Devereux Foundation, alleging that more than a dozen former residents were sexually assaulted as minors.
The 12 women and one man allege that Devereux staff caused severe and permanent injuries to them while they were residents at the foundation.
The complaint says one of the victims was just 8 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.
Devereux is an organization founded to provide care for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism and other mental health needs.
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The lawsuit charges Devereux, it’s numerous companies, and one individual with creating a “predatory hunting ground” for it’s employees, with some of those people injecting the children with sedatives before the alleged sexual assaults took place.
The suit cites sexual assaults at the facility dating back to 1997.
The 10-count complaint seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against the foundation, and says details about the alleged crimes will come out at trial.
“While we have not yet seen the actual lawsuit, we can tell you any reported incidents involving children formerly in our care are heartbreaking,” Devereux said in a prepared statement. “And to prevent this sort of harm from ever befalling another child, our Board has led us in engaging former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in her role as partner at the renowned firm of Paul, Weiss, to conduct an independent audit of Devereux’s policies and procedures regarding safety at our children’s programs.”