“Fight clubs” suspected in Tulsa youth prison

To encourage the fighting, staff rewarded the young residents with illegal drugs, snacks and cell phone privileges, the lawsuit says.

The “Fight Club” allegations are part of an amended complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Muskogee on behalf of former juvenile inmates of the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice.

The amended complaint expands the list of those who have made allegations of abuse while incarcerated at the detention center to include five known juvenile victims and two adult victims.

The lawsuit now names 27 known juveniles and six adults who make specific allegations of mistreatment during their stay in the internment camp.

When the lawsuit was filed in May, it listed three minors and one adult who had been accused of specific abuse, including multiple rapes and sexual assaults of juveniles by prison staff.

Since the complaint was last amended in July, “there has been extensive media coverage of this case in Tulsa County, and additional victims have come forward and engaged legal counsel,” according to a complaint filed on behalf of the plaintiffs.

The amended complaint not only includes additional alleged victims with specific claims, but also adds the center's new director and three current or former prison guards to the list of defendants.

One of the new defendants, a former prison guard, is said to have taken prisoners from their cells and brought them into the cells of young people the guard wanted to attack.

Afterwards, “the staff made bets on which resident would emerge victorious in these 'fight clubs,'” the file states.

The amended complaint now names 35 defendants. The list of defendants includes the Tulsa County Department of Youth Services, the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs, the Tulsa County Board of Commissioners, the presiding judge of the juvenile division, the new warden of the prison, David Parker, and several former and current prison guards at the facility.

Since the original lawsuit was filed, Tulsa County District Judge Kevin Gray has resigned from his supervisory role at the Family Center for Juvenile Justice; the facility's director has been fired; Tulsa County has assumed direct control of the facility; and a second former prison guard has been charged in connection with his alleged conduct toward juvenile inmates.

Other new allegations in the revised complaint include claims that juveniles were held in solitary confinement for extended periods of time in violation of prison policies.

In one case, a youth claimed he intentionally punched a wall in his cell, breaking his hand, “just to be let out of his cell.”

The same juvenile claims that during his stay at the center in 2022 and 2023, he was never allowed to leave his cell for more than 12 hours per day, as required by Oklahoma Administrative Code.

Another youth claims that a prison guard gave him and several other incarcerated youths sleeping pills in the fall of 2023. The youth who made these claims said he was later hospitalized for an overdose.

Another youth claims he was sexually abused by two prison guards while at the facility since January.

Another juvenile alleges he was both sexually and physically abused while in custody from May to July. The same juvenile, identified only as Child Doe 18, claims he was not allowed to see a nurse for three weeks despite obvious visible injuries to the child's right arm.

The child was admitted to hospital on May 28 and was diagnosed with a bacterial infection that requires ongoing treatment.

According to the documents, Tulsa County Juvenile Justice Department officials released the youth from the detention center on medical grounds to avoid “extensive medical costs.”

Another juvenile, identified as Child Doe 17, claims to have overdosed on methamphetamine pills given to him by detention center staff on July 13, one day after federal, state and local law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant for the juvenile detention center.

Another inmate at a youth center claims that an unidentified staff member intentionally groped and grabbed the youth's genitals during his admission to the facility five days after David Parker took over as director of the center on July 19.

The same unidentified staff member repeatedly came into the teen's cell that same night and asked him if he “wanted something,” which was understood to mean he “wanted to engage in further inappropriate activities,” according to the lawsuit.

The Youth Welfare Office requests that the lawsuit be dismissed, arguing, among other things, that the Federal Court has no jurisdiction over the state authority because it enjoys immunity from such lawsuits.

Tulsa County has not responded to the court action other than to request that the case be transferred from Muskogee federal court to Tulsa federal court. U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White granted the request to transfer the case to Tulsa federal court on Thursday.

The detention center has been under a 60-day probation since July 31 after OJA staff threatened to close the facility if improvements were not made.

The OJA initially placed the juvenile detention center on probation in May 2023 and lifted it in late January. The detention center was placed back on probation in early July before the 60-day extension was granted.