Current:Home > StocksHousing provider for unaccompanied migrant children engaged in sexual abuse and harassment, DOJ says -WealthMindset Learning
Housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children engaged in sexual abuse and harassment, DOJ says
Charles H. Sloan View
Date:2025-04-09 20:50:53
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children has engaged in the “severe, pervasive” sexual abuse and harassment of children in its care, the Justice Department alleges.
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.
Based in Austin, Southwest Key is the largest provider of housing to unaccompanied migrant children, operating under grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It has 29 child migrant shelters: 17 in Texas, 10 in Arizona and two in California.
Children living there range in ages from 5 to 17. Among the allegations is the repeated abuse of a 5-year-old in the care of a Southwest Key shelter in El Paso. In 2020, a youth care worker at the provider’s Tucson, Arizona, shelter took an 11-year old boy to a hotel for several days and paid the minor to perform sexual acts on the employee, the Justice Department alleges.
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. “HHS has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual behavior, and discrimination,” he said in a statement.
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.
The Associated Press left a message with the company seeking comment Thursday.
veryGood! (35)
Related
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Former NSA worker pleads guilty to trying to sell US secrets to Russia
- The task? Finish Stephen Sondheim's last musical. No pressure.
- UAW’s confrontational leader makes gains in strike talks, but some wonder: Has he reached too far?
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- 'You want it to hurt': Dolphins hope explosive attack fizzling out vs. Eagles will spark growth
- Humanitarian aid enters Gaza as Egypt opens border crossing
- World’s oldest dog ever dies in Portugal, aged 31 (or about 217 in dog years)
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Investigators use psychology to help extract confessions from a suspected serial killer
Ranking
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- US journalist denied release, faces lengthy sentence in Russia on foreign agent charges
- China crackdown on cyber scams in Southeast Asia nets thousands but leaves networks intact
- IAEA officials say Fukushima’s ongoing discharge of treated radioactive wastewater is going well
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Tanzania signs a controversial port management deal with Dubai-based company despite protests
- Gov. Whitmer criticizes MSU for ‘scandal after scandal,’ leadership woes
- 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is a true story, but it underplays extent of Osage murders
Recommendation
Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
Rob McElhenney Enlists Chris Pratt to Deliver Parks and Wrex Birthday Present for BFF Ryan Reynolds
With another election cycle underway, officials aim to quell fears of voter fraud, rigging
Pakistani court indicts former Prime Minister Imran Khan on charges of revealing official secrets
Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
Former NSA worker pleads guilty to trying to sell US secrets to Russia
Eovaldi remains perfect, Rangers slug their way to 9-2 win over Astros to force Game 7 in ALCS
The case against the Zombie Hunter