NEW LEXINGTON, Ohio (WCMH) – A central Ohio woman needs answers after she said her 16-year-old son was sexually abused under the care of a juvenile detention facility.

The mother wished to remain anonymous to protect her son’s identity.

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“I’m disgusted. I never thought that this would happen to my child. It did happen to my son. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about what my son was going through, why my son was in a facility like this,” the mother said.

That facility, Perry Multi-County Juvenile Facility, she said called her on Dec. 17 around 1:15 p.m. to notify that her son was involved in a sexual abuse situation the night before.

“I wasn’t informed of this incident until Dec. 17 around 1:15 in the afternoon, and that was by the interim director. She had just stated that my son was involved in a sexual assault with another corrections officer, and she had no other information to give me. They’re supposed to be watching my son. They’re not supposed to have any type of contact physically at all with any child in there,” the mother said.

Her son had been incarcerated after committing a felony offense involving a stolen car since July 2023. After she was notified of the incident, she said she was denied an opportunity to speak to her son for several days after calling the facility multiple times.

“Even if they suspected that something did happen on that Saturday evening, they did not follow the protocol that they have in the handbook. My son should’ve been taken to a hospital to be checked out and he was not,” she said.

The mother said she wouldn’t have expected this to happen in a facility where she said kids are supposed to be safe and getting help.

“These kids are sent to these facilities to get help for the crime they committed to go in there. And it’s not like that. These facilities are not giving these kids help. They’re doing the minimum required. There’s no counseling in these facilities for these kids.”

The mother said she has been in touch with the Perry County Sheriff’s Office about the ongoing investigation. She said her son was interviewed by investigators a couple days after the incident occurred. As of Friday night, no charges have been filed against the corrections officer or facility.

NBC4 reached out to the interim Director of Perry Multi-County Juvenile Facility and Sheriff William Barker. Neither have returned communication yet.

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