Thousands are suing states over sexual abuse in juvenile detention facilities

“There’s just a real lack of transparency about what’s happening inside those facilities,” said Michele Deitch, the director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, which runs the National Resource Center for Correctional Oversight.

“Many of these kids have had real trauma in their lives before they’ve ever gone into these facilities,” she added. “That, in many ways, makes them much more vulnerable to abuse by others, and much less likely to be able to advocate for themselves.”