“Alarming conditions” in former home for disabled children, lawsuit says

Oct. 21 — A 5-year-old child was hit and beaten by staff and sexually assaulted by a peer during his stay at a troubled Albuquerque facility for children with disabilities and behavioral problems, according to a new trial.

The complaint, filed last week in Santa Fe District Court by Kristina Martinez, the child’s guardian ad litem, accuses Bernalillo Academy in Albuquerque of allowing widespread child abuse and passing off the benefits gained from registrations before the safety of children. The home was operated by a subsidiary of Sequel Youth and Family Services LLC, based in Huntsville, Alabama, until December 2021.

The New Mexico Department of Children, Youth and Families and its former cabinet secretary, Brian Blalock, knew about the ongoing abuse at Bernalillo Academy and failed to protect the children there , states the complaint. Both are also named as defendants.

Efforts to reach Sequel and Blalock on Wednesday were unsuccessful. No attorney was listed for any of the defendants in court records. CYFD spokeswoman Jessica Preston wrote in an email that the department had not yet received or seen the complaint, and therefore could not comment.

“CYFD knew about a lot of things and allowed this place to continue operating for over a decade,” Martinez’s attorney, Adam Flores, said in an interview. “…They have a lot of power to license and regulate these homes, and they completely missed the ball. And so we want to bring that to light.”

The child suffered damages for medical and psychological treatment costs, pain and suffering and other economic damages, according to the complaint. The suit seeks punitive and compensatory damages.

The incidents alleged in the suit occurred years ago, according to the complaint. But Flores said it took time to gather records about the facility, take statements from police and lawyers who went inside, and get disclosures from the child.

“When it comes to children, it takes a lot longer to get the kind of disclosures you need to bring a lawsuit,” Flores said.

Sequel operates youth residential treatment centers across the country with “simple staff” and has a national reputation for severely abusing and neglecting children, the complaint claims. Bernalillo Academy was the 14th Sequel youth treatment center to close in three years due to abuse allegations.

The suit alleges that CYFD knew of Sequel’s reputation before allowing the company to begin operations in New Mexico and that the department was aware of ongoing abuse and neglect at Bernalillo Academy throughout most of its operation .

Citing an investigation by the nonprofit Disability Rights New Mexico, the suit alleges that Bernalillo Academy staff asked children to fight against each other. Staff also used “excessive physical restraint” against the children, often injuring them, administered “strong psychotropic medications to the children without justification” and illegally refused to release the children, the complaint alleges.

According to the complaint, Albuquerque police officers documented “alarming conditions” at Bernalillo Academy, including suicide attempts by children at the facility, dried blood on the walls of a child’s room, the staff hitting children with sticks and overmedicating children.

CYFD was informed of these findings and reports and even conducted its own investigation into Bernalillo Academy, the complaint states.

This investigation, conducted in June 2021, found that children were being beaten and sexual abuse was taking place on the premises. Yet the establishment was allowed to continue operating for months after the CYFD investigation, the complaint alleges.

From February 2020 to November 2021, the child at the center of the lawsuit was the victim of physical abuse by staff – including punching, pinching and “(beating)” – as well as at least one case of sexual abuse by another minor, the complaint states. On at least one occasion, the child was hospitalized following mistreatment by staff.

He also received medications that left him “sedated and unresponsive” and whose use was not approved by his doctor, according to the complaint.

During his time at Bernalillo Academy, the child was also largely isolated from the outside world, the complaint states.

The complaint states that Sequel took in the child to increase its profits and that the company “deliberately ignored” the fact that the child was “vulnerable and at serious risk of being harmed by peers and adults with power and control over him.

Because of his time at the academy, he cannot read and can barely write, the suit states.

“His mental and behavioral health deteriorated under the custody of the defendants,” it said.

Esteban Candelaria is a corps member for Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. He is responsible for child protection and the national department of children, youth and families. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.