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Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility was a juvenile detention facility in Salem, Oregon, that closed in 2017. Though the facility is gone, the agency that oversaw it, the Oregon Youth Authority, is not. People sexually abused at Hillcrest as minors may still bring a sexual abuse lawsuit against the agency. You can learn more about your legal options at any point.

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Key Takeaways
  • The Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility was a juvenile detention center in Salem, Oregon, that closed in 2017.
  • Oregon waives the usual notice step for many claims by people under 18 in Oregon Youth Authority custody.
  • Helping Survivors can help you understand your legal options and may also introduce you to one of our partner law firms.

Hillcrest Closed in 2017. Where Did Its Records Go?

After Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility closed in 2017, its records, staff files, and responsibility moved with the oversight agency: the Oregon Youth Authority. The facility closed in 2017 after 104 years, and all youth, staff, and programs transferred to MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn.

Hillcrest opened in 1914 as the Oregon State Industrial School for Girls, went all-male in 2008, and ran 180 beds. Under Oregon’s Board of Eugenics, some residents were forcibly sterilized. Someone who experienced abuse at Hillcrest but never told anyone at the time might still find corroboration in another survivor’s report or in a staff member’s employment file.

The Former Staff Members Named in the Hillcrest Lawsuits

Two former Hillcrest staff members are named in civil complaints filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in July 2025, against the State of Oregon: Scott J. Scrabeck and Robert L. Blacksmith.

A civil case is also a separate proceeding from a criminal one, with a lower standard of proof and a different kind of outcome. A person may face a civil claim without ever having been charged, and a prosecutor’s decision not to charge does not decide a civil case.

Scott J. Scrabeck

Scott J. Scrabeck was an Oregon Youth Authority correctional officer at Hillcrest from 1998 until it closed in 2017, then worked elsewhere until retiring in 2023. Three women allege sexual abuse by Scrabeck between 1999 and 2008 at Hillcrest, one beginning when she was 15.

The complaints allege the conduct was an open secret at the facility. He has not been criminally charged, and he has denied the allegations in the media.

Robert L. Blacksmith

Robert L. Blacksmith was a Hillcrest staffer fired in 2006 after misusing a state computer system. One lawsuit plaintiff alleges abuse by Blacksmith in 2001 and 2002 when she was 15, and says a supervisor discouraged the report at the time. He pleaded guilty in Marion County to 10 counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse in a separate case years ago and was released from custody in 2021. Those convictions did not involve victims who were in Oregon Youth Authority custody at Hillcrest.

Last Date Modified
September 18, 2026

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What the Lawsuits Say Happened at Hillcrest

Two of the three suits filed in 2025 alleged sexual abuse by Hillcrest staff between 1999 and 2008. The complaints raise three kinds of claims, including:

  • Sexual battery: the harmful contact itself, alleged against those said to have committed it.
  • Negligence: the argument that the agency failed to supervise, screen, or respond, independent of what any individual did.
  • Civil rights violations: the claim that conditions in state custody breached rights the law guarantees.

The three suits filed so far seek more than $25 million in combined damages. That figure is an amount sought in pending cases, and no Hillcrest settlement, verdict, or payout has been reported. What a claim might cover depends on the individual facts.

Suing a State Agency: The Notice Step Oregon Waives for Youth Authority Claims

Claims against a public body in Oregon usually carry an extra procedural step that may catch people off guard. Someone bringing most such claims normally has to give the state formal notice within 180 days, filed with the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, and missing that window may end a case before it starts.

Oregon switches that requirement off entirely for a specific group. Under ORS 30.275, the notice step does not apply when the claimant was under 18 at the time the acts occurred, the claim is against the Oregon Youth Authority or the Department of Human Services, and the claimant was in that agency’s custody at the time. All three conditions must be met, and a victim who was already 18 at the time of the abuse does not fit the exception on the statute’s face.

How Long Do You Have to File a Child Sexual Abuse Lawsuit in Oregon?

Oregon’s child sexual abuse limitation rules changed in 2025, and the version that applies depends on when the claim arose and how it is pleaded. Under ORS 12.117, an action based on child sexual abuse, or on conduct allowing, permitting, or encouraging it, may be commenced at any time.

There are different rules for claims arising before June 26, 2025, based on conduct allowing, permitting, or encouraging abuse, which is how institutional claims are typically pleaded. These claims fall under the older deadline and must be filed before the victim turns 40, or within five years of discovering the connection between the abuse and the injury, whichever is longer.

Oregon also has a general two-year deadline for claims against a public body, and that statute does not list the child abuse provision among its exceptions. Which deadline applies to your case can be determined by a lawyer.

What Happens Next and What It Costs

The sequence is often more ordinary than people expect, and these stages typically overlap rather than running in order:

  • An initial conversation about what happened and what options exist.
  • A review of what you remember and what records exist: gaps are expected after decades.
  • Identification of the agency and individuals involved: which staff, which unit, which years.
  • A filing against the state, followed by a process that often resolves without a trial.

Cost is usually the unspoken worry. Partner firms generally take these cases on a contingency basis, so there are typically no upfront costs. Helping Survivors partners with attorneys experienced in taking on institutions. 

Want To Speak With A Lawyer?

If you were held at Hillcrest and something happened to you there, asking a question commits you to nothing. Abuse at a closed Oregon youth correctional facility can still support a claim, because the agency remains. Contact Helping Survivors today to talk through your legal options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility is Closed. Can I Still Bring a Claim?

Yes, in many situations. The claim runs against the Oregon Youth Authority, which still operates, and against the agency’s records, which were moved when the facility closed. A closed building may not absolve an agency of responsibility for what happened inside.

A civil claim is a separate proceeding from a criminal case and generally does not require a prior charge, conviction, or police report. An individual reports abuse to law enforcement. Prosecutors often decline cases for reasons unrelated to whether abuse occurred.

The plaintiffs in the pending Hillcrest suits are identified only by initials. There may be ways to protect a survivor’s identity in a filing, especially involving the sexual abuse of a minor, and a lawyer can explain which apply to your case.