If you or someone you know needs resources or support related to sexual violence, contact the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s 24/7 hotline at 800-871-7741.
A man who was held at Maine’s youth prison in South Portland has sued the state over alleged abuse and sexual assaults he endured while in custody as a teen.
Todd Hood, who was intermittently held at Long Creek Youth Development Center between 1998 and 2005 from age 11 to 18, filed his lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland, according to the Portland Press Herald.
After being held at Long Creek, Hood was “bound over” to an adult facility once he turned 18, the Press Herald reported.
In his lawsuit, Hood alleges Long Creek staff held him in isolation in an eight-by-10-foot cell 23 hours a day, physically restrained him, conducted strip searches, and withheld exercise, meals and clothing as punishment, violating his Eighth Amendment rights, according to the newspaper.
While held in isolation, Hood alleges he was subjected to “excessive heat” during summer and “inadequate heat” during winter, the Press Herald reported.
That treatment worsened Hood’s mental health, particularly his anxiety, depression and panic, causing emotional outbursts that led to further isolation, the lawsuit says.
Hood said in the lawsuit he was sexually assaulted by two inmates at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland when he was 13, and was sexually assaulted again by an adult inmate held at Long Creek when Hood was 15, according to the Press Herald.
Hood alleges the assaults weren’t investigated and his abusers weren’t punished.
The lawsuit names the Maine Department of Corrections and several former Long Creek staff. Hood is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
