Feds: State of Illinois youth prison had high rate of sex assault - 1 in 5 got ass raped

Nearly one in five inmates at a now-defunct Joliet youth prison reported being victims of sexual assault, one of the highest rates of any youth detention center in the country, according to a report released this morning by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In survey results published today, 21 percent of inmates at Illinois Youth Center-Joliet, a high-security juvenile detention center that was closed this year in a cost-cutting move by Gov. Pat Quinn, reported they had been sexually assaulted by other inmates or had sexual contact with a staff member. 

That percentage was more than double the national average of just under 10 percent, according to the report, “Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities Reported by Youth.”

Overall, the rate of sexual victimization of Illinois youth prisons was more than 15 percent, higher than all but four other states.

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