Florida: Suit Continues Against CoreCivic for Rape of Developmentally Disabled Child
by Monte McCoin
In November 2017, a U.S. District Court judge set a February 2019 trial date in a civil suit to resolve allegations that CoreCivic – formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America – failed to prevent the sexual assault of a teenage boy with developmental disabilities while he was housed at the Citrus County Detention Facility in Lecanto, Florida.
According to the complaint, the child, identified in court documents as C.W., was not properly screened for risk of sexual victimization during intake at the privately-operated jail on May 18, 2016. “Despite having the knowledge that [the boy] was mentally disabled and highly vulnerable to sexual assault, [the boy] was placed in an adult jail facility where other inmates were provided the opportunity to bully [him],” the complaint states.
The child’s mother, Lesley Butzer, who filed the suit on C.W.’s behalf, alleged that her son was raped by at least one male prisoner between October 3 and October 5, 2016, and that CoreCivic officials prohibited contact between the mother and son following the attack.
The suit seeks more than $75,000 in damages. Neither the attorney for the plaintiff nor CoreCivic’s lawyers commented about specifics of the lawsuit in a news report published by the Citrus County Chronicle. The case remains pending on a summary judgment motion filed by CoreCivic on October 19, 2018. See: Butzer v. Corecivic, Inc., U.S.D.C. (M.D. FL) Case No. 5:17-cv-00360-JSM-PRL.
Additional source: www.chronicleonline.com
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Related legal case
Butzer v. Corecivic, Inc.
| Year | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Cite | U.S.D.C. (M.D. FL) Case No. 5:17-cv-00360-JSM-PRL |
| Level | District Court |