Three more former residents of a shuttered juvenile detention center in Saginaw County have filed a lawsuit alleging staff subjected them to prolonged sexual abuse. The suit was filed June 22 in Saginaw County Circuit Court.
Chicago attorney Nicholas P. Wainwright filed the case on behalf of two men and one woman. The plaintiffs are identified only by their initials to protect their anonymity. They are all younger than 28 and now live in Detroit, Royal Oak, and Ann Arbor.
"Each of these three kids in different ways was abused by staff members there," Wainwright said. (ABC12)
The Allegations
The lawsuit names Wolverine Human Services as the defendant. The agency operated the Wolverine Secure Treatment Center at 2424 N. Outer Drive in Buena Vista Township. The 100-bed facility housed boys and girls ages 12 to 19 who were referred by the child welfare system and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
According to the 25-page complaint, the alleged abuse occurred between 2016 and 2019.
The suit alleges a female staff member began sexually preying on one male plaintiff in 2016 when he was 15. The complaint says she made flirtatious comments, repeatedly groped his genitals, and on at least one occasion forced him to engage in sex.
A second male plaintiff alleges a female therapist abused him in 2017 when he was 16. The suit states the therapist promised to help him go home if he complied with sexual advances. She then threatened that if he reported the abuse, she would claim he raped her and he would remain institutionalized until age 21.
The female plaintiff alleges three male staff members repeatedly abused her between 2018 and 2019 when she was 16. The complaint describes isolation, groping, restraint, and threats of extended confinement. One staff member allegedly watched female residents shower and prohibited them from closing their doors.
A Pattern of Lawsuits
The latest filing joins at least two other lawsuits against Wolverine Human Services. Wainwright said his firm now represents 13 individuals across three separate lawsuits.
The earliest suit was filed in Saginaw County Circuit Court in May 2024 by New York attorney Corey R. Stern. That complaint listed 14 plaintiffs who alleged pervasive rape and molestation at the facility.
Philadelphia attorney D. Wesley Cornish has also filed two lawsuits in U.S. District Court. One suit alleges his client was gang-raped by four male staffers more than 15 times.
"Any time that you see this many cases, the concern isn't about the individual perpetrators, though they still are of concern, but it is more so the environment that's allowing it to happen," Wainwright said. "It's a question of leadership, and several of those leaders are still involved with WHS." (MLive)
The Facility Closed in 2021
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services closed the Wolverine Secure Treatment Center in April 2021. The state found 10 willful and substantial violations at the facility. The violations included minors being choked, punched, improperly restrained, and subjected to sexual advances.
Wolverine Human Services is a Grosse Pointe Park-based nonprofit social services agency. It still operates residential facilities in Vassar, Flint, Detroit, Taylor, and Warren.
Wainwright expressed concern that some of the same people who managed the Buena Vista Township facility still work at Wolverine locations today.
"That is a great concern to us, because a lot of the same people who were operating the facility back when this was going on are still there today," Wainwright said. (ABC12)
Wolverine's Response
Ric Pietzak, executive communications director at Wolverine Human Services, said the agency has not been formally served with the latest lawsuit.
"We have not been formally served and cannot comment on pending litigation. We will respond appropriately through the legal process," Pietzak said. (ABC12)
Judith Fischer, CEO of Wolverine Human Services, told MLive in May 2024 that residents' safety is the agency's paramount priority. She said all abuse claims are taken seriously.
What Happens Next
Two older state-level cases against Wolverine Human Services are tentatively scheduled for trial before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Julie A. Gafkay in September. Wainwright said there is a possibility one case could be moved to Tuscola County because it involves the agency's residential campus in Vassar.
"We would prefer to keep them all consolidated, as it helps to better understand the story of Wolverine Human Services as a whole," Wainwright said. (MLive)
Michigan law allows victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits until they turn 28 or three years after they discover an assault-related injury.