New $51 million lawsuit filed against Oregon Youth Authority alleging abuse of children in custody
Content warning: This article contains information about allegations of sexual abuse which could be offensive or disturbing to some readers.
By Anthony Macuk (KGW), Devon Haskins
PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW) -- Ten men formerly incarcerated at Oregon's MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn have filed a $51 million lawsuit against the state's juvenile justice agency, the Oregon Health Authority, alleging that they were all sexually abused by a single OYA doctor, and that several of them were also sexually abused by various other OYA staff.
The lawsuit seeks $100,000 in economic damages and $5 million in noneconomic damages for each plaintiff. It follows a series of other youth sexual abuse lawsuits filed last year that have put intense scrutiny on OYA's handling of youth sexual abuse cases.
The latest lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, accuses OYA of negligence, civil rights violations and sexual battery of a child. In addition to the agency and the State of Oregon, it lists 20 staff, five directors and five superintendents as defendants, alleging that they either committed sexual abuse or failed to report it.
The complaint states that the plaintiffs do not know the full identities of many of the defendants. The plaintiffs are all listed by initials; although they are all now in their 30s, the lawsuit states that they are seeking to use pseudonyms during the proceedings due to the sensitive nature of the allegations.
The lawsuit alleges that all 10 plaintiffs were sexually abused between 2000 and 2007 by Dr. Edward Gary Edwards, the chief medical officer at MacLaren. The lawsuit claims his sexual abuse of children was so well-known and prevalent that older youth at the facility would warn new arrivals about him, and staff and youth both referred to him as "Dr. Cold Fingers."
Edwards himself is not named as a defendant; he died in February and was never charged with a crime related to the alleged abuse.
The lawsuit alleges a "culture of silence around sex abuse" at OYA, and that other staff at MacLaren not only ignored Edwards' behavior but sometimes weaponized it, "threatening kids that if they did not behave, they would be sent to 'Dr. Cold Fingers' as punishment."
Edwards had been working at MacLaren since 1977 and was the only full-time doctor at the facility from the late 1990s through at least 2007, according to the lawsuit. He handled all youth medical care at the facility including intake examinations and routine physicals, giving him "unfettered and unmonitored access to his victims," the lawsuit alleges.
Multiple plaintiffs reported Edwards to staff and counselors at MacLaren, but nothing was done, the lawsuit claims. It also claims that Edwards was the subject of a harassment complaint in 2003 after he allegedly lunged at a nurse, but he remained employed at MacLaren after that.
Some of the other defendants also worked at MacLaren, but others were employed at different OYA facilities. For example, the lawsuit alleges that one plaintiff was first sexually abused by Edwards at MacLaren and was later transferred to the Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility in Salem, where he was repeatedly groped by a female staffer while working in the kitchen.
Shakeup at OYA
State and OYA officials have announced a series of changes at the agency in the months between the previous series of lawsuits and the new filing this week, though the official announcements do not specify the reason for the changes.
In January, OYA announced that it had conducted a review of its Professional Standards Office, which is tasked with investigating complaints and monitoring for conditions that could endanger youth at OYA facilities. The agency said the review raised concerns about several open cases and the way investigations are conducted.
In February, Gov. Tina Kotek put OYA Director Joe O'Leary on administrative leave pending a Professional Standards Office investigation into unspecified issues, and named Interim Deputy Director Jana McLellan as acting director. Kotek's office confirmed Thursday that O'Leary was removed from leave status and fired on Wednesday.
In a separate Thursday news release, OYA said the Professional Standards Office's leadership has changed in the two months since the January review, and a new team is performing a "systematic review" of all open and suspended cases. There are currently 534 reports from 2018 to October 2024, and 165 since October, that require deeper review, the agency said.
The lawsuit filed Thursday does mention the Professional Standards Office, stating that it was established in 2005 as part of OYA's implementation of standards set out in the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.
The lawsuit alleges that OYA had no formal process or policy for reporting and investigating sexual abuse of youth prior to 2005, and even after the Professional Standards Office was established, the agency "has a long history of ignoring reports of staff sexually abusing youth in its facilities and fostering an environment where unchecked sexual abuse could thrive."
House Republican Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, issued a statement Thursday, saying in part, "Those who have been accused need to be held accountable and those who have been abused deserve to be safe in state custody. ... The Legislature must fulfill its duty to provide desperately lacking accountability, to ensure that those in corrections custody are rehabilitated and not harmed."
Resources
If you or someone you know have experienced sexual assault and need support, help is available.
You can contact the Sexual Assault Resource Center, (503) 626-9100. They are located at 4900 Southwest Griffith Drive, Suite 135, Beaverton, OR 97005.
The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or rainn.org. It is available 24/7.
