An 8-year-old boy was sexually assaulted by his roommate just eight days after he became a patient at a south Alabama behavioral facility for children, according to a lawsuit filed today.
The 56-pound boy awoke to his roommate performing oral sex on him and had been physically assaulted by the same child the previous day, the boy’s lawyers contend.
The suit was filed Thursday in Houston County. Laurel Oaks Behavioral Health Center, United Health Services and Laurel Oaks CEO Jeanette Jackson are among the defendants named in the case.
Pensacola attorney Caleb Cunningham of Levin, Papantonio & Rafferty and Birmingham attorneys Tommy James of Tommy James Law Tommy James Law and Jeremy Knowles of Morris Haynes Morris Haynes, represent the child.
Laurel Oaks Behavioral Center is located in Dothan. Efforts to obtain a comment from the facility were not immediately successful.
The suit contends that facilities like Laurel Oaks are part of the “troubled teen industry,” a multi-billion-dollar network of for-profit youth residential facilities where widespread allegations of abuse and neglect are increasingly coming to light.
The lawsuit states the facility advertises on its website that it “provides a secure environment for children and adolescents” and that children there are “monitored in a safe environment 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Attorneys for the boy say this incident is yet another failure occurring at the facility, which has a history of sexual abuse. In 2014, a 17-year-old patient was charged with felony counts of first-degree sodomy. In 2011, a 40-year-old employee of the facility was convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage patient.
The 8-year-old boy was born in Coffee County in 2013. In March 2022, he was referred to Laurel Oaks, which is a state licensed and certified facility for child with psychiatric, behavioral, and emotional issues.
The boy’s father, according to the lawsuit, was assured his son would be in a private room and monitored at all times – except in the bathroom – by security cameras. He was also assured that boy would be well taken care of, and that his clothes would be washed.
“None of those things were true,’’ the suit states.
One week after the 8-year-old entered the facility, he was physically assaulted by his roommate, who the lawsuit says was larger and had been a facility resident for a longer period of time.
The sexual assault took place the following day, lawyers said, and the roommate admitted the assault. Still, the suit says, it took Laurel Oaks staff 12 hours to notify the boy’s parents and no sexual assault exam was given.
The boy’s father then took him to a hospital to be evaluated.
“When the father demanded he be released from the facility,’’ the suit says, “an employee tried to pressure him into keeping him there.”
Lawyers say not all of the boy’s clothes were returned, and the clothing that was returned was soiled.
The suit alleges the roommate had a history of sexual activity.
“You have a clear pattern of failure to protect the children in this facility,” Cunningham said. “One sexual assault is a tragedy, and a responsible company would do everything in its power to make sure it never happened again.”
“What we have here, the third sexual incident that the public is aware of, is evidence that this is not a responsible company,” he said.
James called the case “deeply troubling.”
“What our client endured is something no child should ever face,’’ James said. “Every child entrusted to the care of facilities like Laurel Oaks deserves protection and safety, not betrayal.”
Knowles said ongoing abuse in such facilities must end. “The well-being and lives of our children are at stake,’’ he said.
The legal team representing the child is calling for immediate action to combat abuse in youth residential facilities.
“This tragedy was avoidable and should never have happened,” James said. “By seeking accountability from those responsible for failing to protect him, the child and his family hope to ensure no other child faces such harm. We are hopeful this lawsuit will highlight the urgent need for reform in youth residential facilities and spark significant change.”
