Spokane County Juvenile Detention Sex Abuse Lawsuit
Recent lawsuits against Spokane and numerous other Washington counties allege decades of juvenile detention center sexual abuse. If you or a loved one experienced sexual abuse while detained at Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center or another Washington juvenile facility, you have legal rights and options for seeking accountability.
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- In October, 15 victims filed a lawsuit against Spokane County for alleged sexual abuse they endured at the county’s juvenile detention center between 1980 and 2010.
- If you or a loved one experienced sexual abuse while detained at the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center, you have legal rights and options for holding the responsible parties accountable and seeking monetary compensation.
Throughout Washington state, hundreds of survivors have recently come forward with allegations of widespread sexual abuse in the state’s juvenile detention centers, and Spokane County is no exception. A lawsuit filed in late October 2025 alleges that Spokane County employed “multiple sex predators” and gave them unlimited access to detained children.
According to the lawsuit, the abuse ranged from flirting to rape, and guards are said to have groomed juvenile inmates and then coerced them into sexual acts, and then tried to silence them through retaliation and intimidation. Attorneys assert that the county failed repeatedly to protect vulnerable children in its care.
History of the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Facility
The Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center is a 39-bed facility with seven intake cells, 28 full-time staff members, and 14 volunteers. The center only detains youth from Spokane County, although some of the county’s youth offenders may be detained in other facilities across the state.
Spokane County took many years to update and modernize the facility and did not install security cameras until 2020. The current lawsuit against the county alleges that this delay demonstrates the county’s failure to take adequate precautions to supervise guards and protect youth in custody.
- History of the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Facility
- Allegations of Abuse at Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center
- Rights and Options for Survivors of Washington Juvenile Detention Sex Abuse
- Types of Compensation for Juvenile Detention Sex Abuse Survivors
- Contact Helping Survivors for Legal Resources
Allegations of Abuse at Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center
In October 2025, a lawsuit with 15 plaintiffs was filed in Spokane County Superior Court, alleging decades of abuse at the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center spanning from the 1980s to 2010. The suit alleges that Spokane County employed “multiple sex predators” and granted them unlimited access to children and adolescents locked up at the juvenile facility. The plaintiffs were boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 17 when the alleged juvenile detention center sexual abuse occurred.
According to the lawsuit, the alleged abuse ranged from flirting to rape, and the county showed a continued failure to protect vulnerable children in their care. Guards are said to have groomed juvenile inmates and then coerced them into sexual acts, and then tried to silence them through retaliation and intimidation. Several victims reported one guard coercing them after they had been released. The two guards most prominently named in the lawsuit, William Lamb and Rafael Gray, have since died.
Attorneys for the alleged victims called the abuse the product of “extraordinary negligence” and a “total absence of oversight or supervision” from Spokane County. While most victims were too scared to come forward at the time of the abuse, some did report abuse to county staff, who allegedly did nothing to stop it or protect the victims. There may be more survivors who have yet to come forward.
Rights and Options for Survivors of Washington Juvenile Detention Sex Abuse
If you have experienced sexual abuse in the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center, even if it was years ago, you have legal rights, including the option to report the abuse to the state board and eligibility to file a civil lawsuit. Helping Survivors can help you understand your options and connect you with an experienced lawyer today.
Filing a Complaint with Oversight Agencies
Survivors have the legal right to file a complaint with the oversight agencies responsible for protecting the youth under the state’s custody.
If you or a loved one experienced sexual abuse at the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center, you can report the abuse to the center’s Detention Manager at 509-477-2440, the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney, or the Spokane Police Department. You can also contact Child Protective Services at 1-866-endharm to report suspected child abuse or neglect in Washington.
Reporting to Law Enforcement
Reporting sexual abuse can be challenging for survivors, especially when authority figures like law enforcement officers committed the abuse. If you feel safe to do so, it may be helpful to file a police report about the abuse you endured. The report will likely trigger an investigation, and prosecutors will determine whether to press charges based on the strength of the evidence, the applicable laws, the criminal statute of limitations, and the resources available.
Even if charges are not filed, making a report helps create a critical paper trail of the harm that can aid others who come forward in the future.
Filing a Civil Lawsuit
If you have experienced sexual abuse at a Washington juvenile detention or rehabilitation center, you might be eligible to file a civil lawsuit or join an existing one against the state, the facility, and the perpetrator.
Civil lawsuits enable abuse survivors to seek monetary damages for the harm they experienced. A lawsuit takes place separately from criminal proceedings, so you may still be able to file a lawsuit even if the perpetrator of the abuse you endured was never charged with or convicted of a crime. The same is true if the perpetrator is now deceased.
Washington’s civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse lawsuits can be complex. Under current Washington state law, there is no civil statute of limitations as of June 6, 2024, meaning that anyone victimized by child sexual abuse on or after that date may file suit at any time, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. However, that law is not retroactive, and the previous statute of limitations applies to cases arising before the effective date.
Survivors of child sexual abuse that occurred before June 6, 2024, must file suit within three years of the date of the abuse or the date they discover a link between their mental or physical injuries and the abuse. However, the period is “tolled” or paused until the victim turns 18, meaning they generally have at least until their 21st birthday to file suit.
Types of Compensation for Juvenile Detention Sex Abuse Survivors
As a survivor of juvenile detention center sexual abuse, you might be eligible to file a civil lawsuit and seek monetary compensation for medical bills, mental health support, and your pain and suffering so you can begin to move forward with your life. Other potential damages you may recover include lost wages and earning capacity, emotional distress, and punitive damages.
Contact Helping Survivors for Legal Resources
At Helping Survivors, we’re on a mission to help heal, educate, and empower people who have been impacted by sexual assault and abuse. We work to inform survivors of their rights and options, connect them to resources for support, and make legal introductions to our partner law firms. These firms work with survivors to file civil lawsuits against the individuals and institutions that perpetrated and enabled the abuse to compensate victims for their suffering.
When you contact Helping Survivors, we can connect you with an experienced, trauma-informed attorney who can evaluate your case and help you understand the legal process. They can also determine whether pursuing a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center makes sense for you. Every lawyer we work with takes abuse cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning there are no upfront costs.
Contact us today to speak with an experienced juvenile detention center abuse lawyer.
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