Warning: This story contains discussions of sexual assault. The details may be disturbing or triggering to some. If you or someone you know needs help, local organizations can provide resources. For mental health support call crisis line 988 or the national sexual assault line at 1-800-656-4673.
A series of lawsuits filed this year allege a pattern of grooming and sexual abuse in Oregon Youth Authority correctional facilities.
In six separate lawsuits, plaintiffs allege staff members provided them with drugs, manipulated them to gain their trust, engaged in “coercive sexual relationships” with youths and threatened them so they wouldn’t report the behavior.
The suits claim these relationships were well known to other staff but were allowed to continue. Two former staff members now face criminal charges related to the suits.
“Youth who are sent there are vulnerable,” said Norah Van Dusen, one of the lawyers for the youth. “Most of them have come from difficult backgrounds. Many of them suffered abuse well before they were incarcerated at OYA. At a minimum, when a youth is at OYA, they should be free from abuse.”
Youths are put in custody to receive treatment and prepare to transition back into society, she said, and experiencing abuse has serious effects.
“It has long ranging impacts for their ability to both turn their lives around and to trust adults, authority figures, therapists, going forward,” Van Dusen said.
Carly Dierkhising, a professor at California State University, Los Angeles, whose research focuses on trauma in the juvenile justice system, said youth correctional facilities often have a “culture of looking the other way.”
Whether it’s true, there’s a sense among youths that reporting won’t help, Dierkhising said. Her experience as a therapist for youths in a secure facility disturbed her so much she said she began researching and advocating for reform.
“Generally, when we talk to kids … they feel like they report and nothing really happens,” Dierkhising said.
Lawyers for the youths said they continue to discover more youths who say they have been abused, and believe more cases are still to come.
Oregon Youth Authority leaders said they work to create systems that protect youths and enable them to report abuse. OYA spokesperson William Howell said the alleged abuse in the lawsuits “runs completely against our values and commitments to our youth.”
Lawsuits describe patterns of abusive behavior at Oregon Youth Authority facilities
The lawsuits all describe grooming by staff, in which manipulative tactics are used to gain a victim’s trust and convince them the relationship is mutual and not coercive. Victims often don’t recognize the behavior as abuse until later.
“There is an inherent imbalance of power, and that is why it is sexual abuse,” Van Dusen said. “Many youth may not realize that that is what is happening.”
According to RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, grooming often is employed by someone a victim knows and trusts, and abusers typically choose victims perceived to be more vulnerable. Abusers will use “gifts, attention, sharing ‘secrets’ and other means,” according to RAINN, to build the relationship, and will encourage victims to keep it secret.
Several of the lawsuits allege that staff members told youths they loved them, brought them drugs and cell phones, created excuses to spend time alone, and built relationships with the youths’ family members.
“The way that staff used contraband and treats and presents and special attention to groom the youth, those are the same tactics that are used by sexual predators to groom victims,” Van Dusen said. “They gain their trust, they form a relationship, they make the person, the victim, feel special, and in that way, they are able to violate boundaries.”
The juvenile justice system provides a high level of confidentiality for juvenile records, designed to protect youths. But Dierkhising said these regulations may actually contribute to a lack of public awareness, making youths feel like no one is ensuring they are safe.
“There’s this sense of, they get locked up and then they throw away the key, and no one’s really allowed to come in and check on them,” Dierkhising said. “There’s kind of a lack of oversight, and definitely a lack of public engagement with these facilities.”
Lawsuits allege Oregon Youth Authority staffer gave youths drugs, nude photos
Two of the latest suits, filed in late September, allege sexual abuse by former group life coordinator Cherie MacDougall at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility.
MacLaren, located in Woodburn, is the largest facility OYA oversees. As of July 2024, it housed 187 male youths.
The plaintiffs both allege they experienced abuse while living in the Haystack unit — dedicated to youths with substance-use issues — which MacDougall was assigned to monitor.
According to OYA’s website, group life coordinators “provide front line supervision of close custody youth, coordinate daily activities, and serve as positive role models.”
Both lawsuits allege that MacDougall groomed the plaintiffs, provided them with drugs, shared personal details of her life with them and asked them for money.
In one case, a then-15-year-old plaintiff alleges he began failing his mandated drug tests because of the drugs she was giving him, causing his stay at MacLaren to be extended repeatedly. He claims in the lawsuit that he felt he couldn’t deny her sexual advances in part because he was addicted to the drugs she was providing.
In the other case, the then-21-year-old plaintiff alleges MacDougall engaged in sexual encounters with him at least 20 times, asking him to meet her in bathrooms to have sex and sending him nude photos of herself. On one occasion, the lawsuit alleges she warned him against reporting the behavior, saying, “You know what I can do to you.”
OYA received a complaint in March 2023 about MacDougall possibly bringing contraband to the facility, according to spokesperson Howell. She was placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation, and additional allegations were made about boundary issues between MacDougall and youths. She resigned two months later.
Lawsuits allege MacLaren mental health counselor took youths to private sessions for sex
Three lawsuits filed earlier this year allege sexual abuse by Emily Echtenkamp, a qualified mental health professional, who now faces criminal charges in Marion County, including five counts of custodial sexual misconduct and initiating a false report, for circumstances described in one of the suits. Echtenkamp had been employed at OYA since 2015.
That suit alleges that Echtenkamp began grooming the plaintiff shortly after he arrived at MacLaren in 2019 at age 17. As his mental health counselor, she knew he had experienced childhood sexual abuse and other traumas.
Fifty-four percent of male youths and 77% of female youths serving time at OYA facilities have histories of abuse or neglect, and 56% of male youths and 66% of female youths have substance abuse issues, according to OYA data from July 2024. They also have high rates of diagnosed mental health disorders — 67% for male youths and 91% for female youths. About a third of male youths and a fourth of female youths overseen by OYA have special education needs.
The plaintiff alleges Echtenkamp had at least 20 coercive sexual encounters with him, and when they were caught having sex, she accused him of raping her. Oregon State Police investigators determined she was lying after viewing surveillance video of the incident.
OYA received a complaint of “possible boundary issues between staff and a youth” on April 4, 2022, the day she was caught, and immediately placed her on paid administrative leave, pending the investigation outcome, according to Howell. She resigned about a month later.
An investigation by lawyers representing the youth in custody led to the discovery of additional allegations of sexual abuse, prompting the other lawsuits, according to Van Dusen.
Van Dusen said she believes Echtenkamp had engaged in inappropriate sexual misconduct “multiple times” and this behavior was “fairly well known” to other staff.
In a separate lawsuit, another plaintiff accuses Echtenkamp of abusing her position as his mental health counselor to engage in coercive sexual encounters.
The plaintiff, who had also experienced childhood sexual abuse, alleges Echtenkamp brought him contraband drugs and took him to private, “off unit” counseling sessions to sexually abuse him. He alleges she threatened to turn him in for having the contraband drugs she had given him if he did not have sex with her.
The third lawsuit accusing Echtenkamp of sexual abuse also alleges the youth experienced a coercive sexual relationship with another former OYA employee, Amira Andrade.
That plaintiff alleges Andrade groomed him and eventually began having another employee bring him to the administrative building to have sex with him in the bathrooms.
The lawsuit alleges OYA began investigating Andrade for “suspicion of being in a sexual relationship” with the youth, but Howell said OYA “never received a complaint regarding inappropriate conduct.” He said she was disciplined in March 2021 for bringing in food to a youth, and she resigned from OYA that month.
Echtenkamp was then assigned as the youth’s mental health counselor, and the suit alleges she provided him with contraband, took him “off unit” for private sessions and sent him sexually explicit photos and videos of herself.
After resigning from OYA, Andrade was hired by the Department of Human Services in a position that “worked with children and families,” according to ODHS spokesperson Jake Sunderland. In mid-August, Andrade was reassigned to duties that do not involve direct contact with children and families, pending an investigation, Sunderland said.
Echtenkamp’s license as a social worker and certification as a counselor are both listed as active with no ethical or disciplinary actions taken.
Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility, Oregon’s female youth facility, faces lawsuit
A former Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility employee, Travis Craft, also faces criminal charges in Linn County for circumstances described in a lawsuit filed in mid-September.
Oak Creek is located in Albany and holds 42 youths, as of July 2024.
The suit alleges that after Craft began working in the plaintiff’s living unit in 2021, he “immediately engaged [her] in inappropriate sexual conversations concerning staff and youth.”
After a few months, he kissed her and then invited her to an office with no cameras and made her perform oral sex on him, the suit alleges. This happened two or three more times over a four-month period, she alleges in the suit.
According to Howell, OYA received a complaint about “possible boundary issues between staff and a youth” in August 2021 and immediately placed Craft on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation. OYA completed its investigation in June 2022 and Craft resigned before discipline could be issued.
OYA policies aim to protect youths from sexual abuse
Most of OYA’s policies to protect youths from sexual abuse stem from the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law passed in 2003.
According to policy, OYA has a “zero-tolerance standard” for sexual abuse and harassment.
Alisha Goodwin, who oversees implementation of PREA for the agency, said her role as PREA coordinator is to prevent harm to youth, to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct and to hold individuals accountable.
All new staff undergo a criminal record check, repeated annually, and a child abuse registry check. During orientation, new staff receive training on how to “prevent, detect, report, and respond” to youth sexual abuse and harassment, according to policy.
Goodwin said when a youth arrives at a facility, they’re given information about sexual abuse and how to report it in three different ways: an intake officer goes through the information with them, they receive a youth safety guide and they watch a video. Posters around the facility also provide details about how and when to report abuse in both English and Spanish.
Goodwin said youths can also report by telling a staff member, who is obligated to take action, or writing a letter to the governor’s constituency services. Community members and victims’ advocates also can make reports on behalf of youths.
Reports go to the Professional Standards Office of OYA, according to chief investigator Raymond Byrd. If there is sufficient evidence to suggest it’s criminal, the case is referred to the Oregon State Police. Human resources also investigates.
If the Professional Standards Office finds the claims are substantiated, the staff member receives a formal letter notifying them there is a substantiated case against them and they will be required to disclose that in future job applications, Byrd said.
The presumptive outcome for a staff member who engaged in sexual misconduct is termination, Goodwin said.
Independent auditors evaluate facilities every three years in accordance with PREA. The three facilities evaluated in 2024, Camp Riverbend, Eastern Oregon Youth Correctional Facility and Rogue Valley Youth Correctional Facility, each received 100%.
MacLaren was last evaluated in 2022 and met all but one standard, failing to achieve the proper staff to youths ratio. Oak Creek also was last evaluated in 2022 and met all standards.
Each facility is required to designate a PREA compliance manager. Prior to late summer 2021, MacLaren’s superintendent, Dan Berger, was the PREA compliance manager.
Loren Calkins, who is named in one of the lawsuits against Echtenkamp as her direct supervisor, took over as PREA compliance manager in 2021, during which time Echtenkamp is accused of having been engaged in coercive sexual relationships with at least three youths. Calkins left that role in March 2023.
Researcher Dierkhising said PREA policies are well-intended but don’t always play out in practice.
“There’s also a fear, a very well-deserved fear, among kids to report some of this stuff,” she said. “You have someone who literally has the key to your freedom, who is potentially threatening you, potentially physically assaulting or sexually abusing you. You have to remember we’re talking about kids.”
A history of abuse in OYA
In recent years, two Oak Creek employees sued OYA, alleging they were told to keep quiet about sexual harassment and misconduct they had witnessed and that they faced retribution for reporting those incidents. Both cases were settled.
Several of the lawsuits filed this year also cite a case involving former MacLaren group life coordinator Frank Milligan.
In 2015, Milligan was sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexually abusing a 15-year-old at MacLaren in 1998. In 2014, the victim in that case was reminded of the abuse he’d experienced and decided to look up Milligan.
He learned Milligan was serving a 30-year sentence for molesting an 11-year-old boy and for abducting, assaulting and attempting to kill a 10-year-old boy. Milligan also had confessed to molesting at least one child at the Oregon State Hospital, where he worked before being employed at MacLaren.
The victim reported the abuse and filed a civil lawsuit, saying he realized OYA had “engaged in a pattern and practice of failing to protect the vulnerable minors” in custody. The case was settled for $90,000 in 2019.
In another case, former youth probation officer Michael Boyles was sentenced in 2005 to more than 80 years in prison for dozens of counts of sodomy, abuse and misconduct involving several youths under the supervision of OYA.
National data identifies Oregon facility as high risk for sexual victimization
Experts and advocates across the country have been pushing for juvenile justice reform for decades.
But little recent data is available on youths in custody.
The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics last conducted the National Survey of Youth in Custody in 2018, surveying more than 6,000 youths. The data showed youths in juvenile facilities experienced sexual victimization at a higher rate than adults in prisons, at about 7.1%.
Nearly 60% of youths who experienced sexual victimization while in custody had previously been sexually victimized in their lives, the data found.
The survey also identified Oak Creek as one of 12 facilities nationwide to have a high rate of sexual victimization, at 14.3%, about double the national rate.
In a blog post, OYA Director Joseph O’Leary described the results as “troubling” but “puzzling,” saying it contradicting the agency’s own data and audits. In a later blog post, OYA said it has increased the number of security cameras by 1,000 in recent years.
Other states offer models for youth corrections reform
Data has shown that youths in larger facilities are at higher risk for experiencing sexual abuse, so some models for reform favor small, regional facilities instead of large, prison-like institutions.
Missouri was hailed nationally for adopting this model in 2001. A 2010 report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found Missouri youths had far lower rates of recidivism and were less likely to have experienced assault while in custody.
The California youth justice system also has been undergoing reform and restructuring, with the governor closing down all state facilities in 2023 to keep youths in their counties.
An initiative in Ohio allots funds to each county for local treatment of youth offenders, with deductions to that funding amount for every youth sent to a state correctional facility.
One push from advocates is to keep youth in their counties, close to home, and reduce the population confined in facilities by building up the capacity of community-based organizations, finding ways to direct funding locally, connecting those organizations to the judicial system and building a larger network of local support for youths and families.
Oregon has decreased its population of incarcerated youths by more than a third, from 629 in 2015 to 407 in 2024. OYA said there are 900 youths under the agency’s supervision. The majority, 88%, are male youths. Nearly 60% of the total population are in the community, either on parole or probation.
Abuse in custody also has long-ranging impacts on youths’ ability to rehabilitate and succeed. Youths who experience abuse while in custody struggle more after release, Dierkhising said.
“Being locked up is a very unique experience,” she said. “When that person who is supposed to be protecting you and providing services for you is the one assaulting you, it creates a really complicated, confusing situation for youth.”
Isabel Funk covers breaking news and public safety for the Statesman Journal. Funk can be reached at ifunk@statesmanjournal.com or on X at @isabeldfunk
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon Youth Authority sued over sexual abuse allegations
