Lawsuit alleges employees have raped, touched or solicited sex from children in care of Austin-based company since at least 2015.for unaccompanied migrant children has engaged in the “severe, pervasive, and unwelcome” sexual abuse and harassment of children in its care, the Justice Department alleged Thursday.
Southwest Key employees, including supervisors, have raped, touched or solicited sex and nude images of children in its care since at least 2015, the DOJ alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday. At least two employees have been charged since 2020, according to the lawsuit.is the largest provider of housing to unaccompanied migrant children, operating under grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Children were threatened with violence against themselves or family if they reported the abuse, according to the lawsuit. It added that testimony from the victims revealed staff in some instances knew about the ongoing abuse and failed to report it or concealed it.Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday that the complaint “raises serious pattern or practice concerns” about Southwest Key.
The lawsuit comes less than three weeks after a federal judge granted the Justice Department’s request to lift special court oversight of Health and Human Services’ care of unaccompanied migrant children. President Joe Biden’s administration argued that new safeguards rendered special oversight unnecessary 27 years after it began.