20 January 2024 , 20:20
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The children's song "Baby Shark" was played on loop to "torture teens" at a detention centre, a lawsuit has claimed.
Two teenage girls who were staying at a Kentucky detention centre claim they were kept in isolation cells during their entire stay and the song Baby Shark was played in Spanish on repeat. They have brought the lawsuit against Adair County Juvenile Detention Center following their stay in 2022.
The lawsuit says that one of the girls was 17 and seven months pregnant at the time of her stay there - she claims she was left out of her cell just five times in one month, and that was only to go for a walk. The conditions of the facility were also described as "substandard."
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The song was played in Spanish on loop (No credit)The allegations have been denied by the facility. It has also been alleged that children at the facility "had limited contact with their parents and attorney" and did not receive proper education. , WAVE-TV in Kentucky also exposed allegations of teens not being fed as well as instances of alleged physical abuse at the hands of staff.
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An email obtained by the Associated Press from Morgan Hall, the Cabinet's communications director, said: "We deny the allegations in the lawsuit and will defend accordingly. DJJ works tirelessly to provide safe and effective services to the juveniles in its care. For any staff member who violates policy and procedure, corrective action is taken."
Adair County Juvenile Detention Center (Google Maps)Another striking allegation made in the lawsuit, as reported by the Lexington Herald Dealer, suggested that staff members exposed teenage girls' nude bodies to males at the facility by forcibly removing their clothes or holding onto their clothes while in view of other employees and detainees.
It is also said that the lawsuit alleges that one teenage girl was kept in a room full of insects and that feminine hygiene products were withheld. It is also alleged that one youth, who was said to be suicidal, was held in a padded cell without a toilet and was left in their soiled clothing as a result for weeks.
The lawsuit alleges that those at the facility had their civil rights violated, according to the Associated Press. The suit is seeking unspecified actual and punitive damages. Several people are named in the lawsuit, including Kerry Harvey, the former Justice Cabinet Secretary, Vicki Reed, the Department of Juvenile Justice Director, George Scott, the Executive Director, David Kazee- Division Director and Tonya Burton, the facility's superintendent among others.