Delaware
3 former juvenile detention residents sue Delco for alleged sexual abuse
![3 former juvenile detention residents sue Delco for alleged sexual abuse](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/delaware-county-juvenile-detention-center-121322.png)
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Three former Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center (DCJDC) residents sued the county Wednesday night, alleging DCJDC staff sexually abused them.
Anna Kull, a New York-based survivor’s rights attorney representing the three individuals, said the issues were systemic.
“The county needs to be held accountable for what’s happened here, because without accountability, we’re not going to see any real change,” Kull, a partner with Levy Konigsberg, said.
A county spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The legal complaint in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas seeks to hold the county liable for wrongdoing at the troubled facility.
“The civil system allows these victims to come forward, bring a lawsuit and seek financial compensation for the lifelong pain and suffering that they’re going to endure as a result of being sexually abused when they were minors,” Kull said.
The DCJDC was a pre-trial, youth detention facility in Lima, Pennsylvania, for children and youth ages 10 to 18 years old. The county court system operated the facility — until it was forced to empty its halls several years ago.
Delaware County Judge Kevin Kelly shut down the center in March 2021 after the Public Defender’s Office sent an urgent letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.
The letter detailed allegations of “physical, sexual, and psychological abuse by staff.” Those complaints brought added scrutiny to the state’s juvenile justice system, which had been marred by a series of abuse scandals across the commonwealth.
“You have to really think about why this happened for as long as it did — why and how it was so prevalent,” Kull said.
In the latest legal filing, Kull and her colleagues zeroed in on the county’s disregard and inaction on complaints against the facility and staff prior to 2021.
A grand jury later investigated the conduct at DCJDC. However, despite unmasking a culture of violence, silence and “sexually inappropriate conduct” by staff, jury members decided against recommending criminal charges.
“Despite numerous publicly documented incidents of abuse by DCJDC staff going back decades that were reported to both county and state agencies and employees, not once were meaningful steps taken to protect the youth at DCJDC,” the complaint read.
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Delaware
Propane explosion may be to blame for fire in Springfield Twp., Delaware County
![Propane explosion may be to blame for fire in Springfield Twp., Delaware County](https://cdn.abcotvs.com/dip/images/14989514_062224-wpvi-springfield-twp-fire-6pm-video-vid.jpg?w=1600)
SPRINGFIELD TWP., Pennsylvania (WPVI) — Firefighters battled a two-alarm blaze in Springfield Township, Delaware County on Saturday afternoon.
The fire broke out around 2 p.m. at a home on the 100 block of Bellevue Avenue.
Preliminary reports say the fire may have started after a propane explosion.
However, the official cause of the fire remains under investigation.
No injuries have been reported.
Copyright © 2024 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Delaware
Weather radio stations off the air for Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Delaware
![Weather radio stations off the air for Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Delaware](https://gray-kcrg-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/DM2AULFD5FDGROIPV6L4VKL46Q.jpg?auth=344a3a9ae4a44c8718db1518749b5dfa92a543dbfd1e8d1571d627c8cfb3efa0&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The National Weather Service out of the Quad Cities says weather radio stations located in Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Delaware are currently off the air.
Stations WXL61 in Cedar Rapids, KJY64 in Delaware and WXL64 in Dubuque are off the air.
KZZ56 in Freeport, Illinois is also off the air.
The National Weather Service says it’s an issue with the phone company.
The NWS did not say when they expect the issue to be resolved. Make sure to have multiple ways to receive severe weather information.
One way is to download the KCRG-TV9 First Alert weather app.
Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Delaware
Changes to Delaware corporate law clears House after contentious debate
![Changes to Delaware corporate law clears House after contentious debate](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/delaware-general-assembly-dover-j-perez-gonzalez-2023-01-10-1.jpg)
Laster, who has called the legislation “major surgery,” said in his decision that companies must comply with Delaware law.
“Market participants must conform their conduct to legal requirements, not the other way around,” the ruling said.
Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton (D-Newark) and Republican Rep. Michael Smith called experts to testify on both sides of the issue.
Wilson-Anton said she’s seen memos dating back years warning that the stockholder agreements were unenforceable.
Her expert, Charles Elson, founding director emeritus of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said one of the concerns with these stockholder agreements is a lack of transparency.
“If you buy into a company, and there’s already a side agreement that effectively lays out how the company is going to be managed and function and you’re unaware of it,” he said. “And the problem of these things remaining no secret, if you will, is the danger of a minority buying in and discovering that the cards have already been stacked, so to speak.”
Former Chancellor William Chandler defended the Corporation Law Council on the writing of the bill. DSBA and the bill sponsors have disputed the view that the revisions are a sweeping overhaul of current law.
“I believe in placing my trust in that organization because they have never, ever failed,” he said. “I trust the Corporate Law Council in doing the right thing.”
Chandler said, “The corporate market isn’t ‘feeling good’ about Delaware,” and questioned McCormick and Laster’s objectivity on cases related to the bill’s amendments to state law.
“As Chancellor, I will tell you I was taught judges need to stay in their own lane,” he said. “Judges need to be judging cases in the courtroom, applying the law that you give them. Judges don’t need to intrude upon the process of making law.”
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