50 people file lawsuits alleging decades of abuse in Maryland’s juvenile detention centers

On the same day Maryland’s Child Victims Act went into effect, 50 people filed lawsuits against the state and two of its agencies alleging they suffered rampant and repeated sexual abuse as youths incarcerated under the juvenile justice system. The six lawsuits, filed Sunday, are part of a new wave of litigation stemming from the state’s decision to eliminate the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse to file complaints against institutions they say enabled harm.