New lawsuit filed against Tuskegee youth facility, director and others

MACON COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) - A second lawsuit has been filed against a youth residential facility in Tuskegee, the facility’s director, and other employees.

The lawsuit alleges horrific abuse and neglect inflicted upon a 15-year-old child by staff and residents who lived at Brighter Path Tuskegee, formerly called Sequel, a youth residential facility in Tuskegee.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for the child’s physical, emotional, and psychological harm.

Birmingham, Alabama attorneys Tommy James of Tommy James Law and Jeremy Knowles of the Morris Haynes law firm are representing the child and the child’s father, who is the victim’s legal guardian. Both have previously filed many lawsuits across the state representing abuse victims in similar facilities.

“The Tuskegee facility is just one part of the ‘exploited teen industry,’ a multibillion-dollar network of for-profit youth residential facilities where widespread abuse and neglect have been uncovered,” James said. “The shocking abuses, neglect, and even deaths that occur within these unregulated facilities directly stem from prioritizing profits over the safety and well-being of children.”

While the state of Alabama is not named in the suit, Brighter Path contracts with the Alabama Department of Youth Services and the Alabama Department of Human Resources to treat at-risk children.

Brighter Path is a for-profit company that owns and operates facilities for juveniles at various locations throughout the U.S.

A separate wrongful death lawsuit was also filed against the facility, claiming the abuse of a victim who died by suicide suffered as a resident inside the facility.

correction: It was initially reported that this lawsuit was related to the Connor Bennett wrongful death lawsuit. It has since been updated to show this is a separate lawsuit against the same facility.

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