Illinois Youth Center - Warrenville
Illinois Youth Center Warrenville serves as the reception and classification center for all female youth in Illinois. Despite being the state's only all-female juvenile facility, it has been plagued by documented sexual abuse, including criminal convictions of staff members for sexual misconduct with teenage girls.
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About IYC Warrenville
Illinois Youth Center Warrenville is a co-ed, multi-level security facility that opened in 1973, approximately 30 miles west of Chicago. It serves as the reception and classification center for all female youth and for male youth aged 13 through 14. The facility has a capacity of approximately 70 inmates.
The center provides GED and high school diploma academic services, an in-patient substance abuse treatment program, vocational programs, mental health services, and family reunification programming. However, survivors allege that staff members exploited their positions to sexually abuse vulnerable girls in their care.
Lawsuits filed by survivors detail horrific patterns of abuse at IYC Warrenville. One former resident who had multiple stays beginning around 2014 when she was 13 alleged that five separate correctional officers sexually abused her. The abuse allegedly occurred two to three times a week during her various stays.
Staff members allegedly gave victims cigarettes, marijuana, and extra snacks as "rewards for enduring the abuse." When victims threatened to report the abuse, they faced retaliation including extended confinement.
Criminal Conviction Record (2000, 2006)
In 2000, a former teacher at Illinois Youth Center Warrenville was charged with criminal sexual abuse for alleged sexual contact with two teenage residents. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to misdemeanor criminal sexual abuse in 2002. In 2006, Barnett Gill, a 28-year veteran of the Illinois Department of Corrections, was convicted of inappropriate sexual contact with a 16-year-old female inmate at IYC-Warrenville, where he was a supervisor.
WTTW Chicago (June 2024)
Another girl who had multiple stays at IYC-Warrenville—beginning around 2014 when she was 13—alleged five separate correctional officers sexually abused her. The officers would allegedly sexually abuse her two-to-three times a week during her various stays. The officers would give her cigarettes, marijuana and extra snacks as a "reward for enduring the abuse."
Source: WTTW Chicago
WBEZ Chicago (July 2025)
One woman, who prefers to go by her first name Kate-Lynn, recounted an alleged incident at Illinois Youth Center Warrenville where at least five staff members entered her cell and took off her clothes. Then, she said, a male staff member sat on her naked body and touched her inappropriately.
Source: WBEZ Chicago
Types of Abuse Reported
Sexual Abuse by Staff
Sexual assault and exploitation by correctional officers, supervisors, teachers, and other staff members.
Gang Assaults
Multiple staff members entering cells to commit abuse together.
Coercion with Contraband
Staff providing cigarettes, drugs, and food as "rewards" for enduring abuse.
Retaliation for Reporting
Extended confinement and punishment for victims who threatened to report abuse.
Your Legal Options
If you were abused at IYC Warrenville, you may be entitled to compensation. Illinois has extended statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims, allowing survivors to pursue justice.
Under Illinois law, victims of childhood sexual abuse who were born on or after July 24, 1983 may file claims at any time. For earlier victims, there may still be options depending on when the abuse occurred.
There is no cost to file a claim. We work on a contingency fee basis—you pay nothing unless we win your case.
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