Overview
- The lawsuit filed Thursday in the Illinois Court of Claims names the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center and A‑Alert Security Services and asks for millions in damages.
- Plaintiff Yadira Escamilla alleges she was repeatedly sexually assaulted at the South Side facility by security guard Trulon Henry, who was convicted in March of multiple counts of criminal sexual assault and is scheduled for sentencing in August.
- Court documents cited in the complaint report more than 3,000 unusual incident reports to DCFS from 2018 until the facility’s closure and about 175 police responses to the site.
- Escamilla’s lawyers say DCFS briefly removed her after she reported abuse but later returned her to the shelter, where she was placed alone in a basement room without cameras and allegedly assaulted multiple times.
- Attorney teams led by Ben Crump are using the suit to press for state accountability and reforms to placement and contractor oversight, and they are urging other former residents to come forward as the case could trigger policy and liability reviews.