A Texas-based nonprofit that provides housing to unaccompanied children has been sued by the Justice Department for allegedly engaging in a pattern of sexual abuse and harassment.
Southwest Key Programs Inc., which operates 29 shelters in Texas, Arizona, and California, is accused of allowing multiple employees to subject children in their care to severe or pervasive sexual harassment from 2015 through at least 2023.
The lawsuit alleges that the abuse included sexual contact and inappropriate touching, solicitation of sex acts, solicitation of nude photos, entreaties for inappropriate relationships, and sexual comments.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging that Southwest Key took insufficient action to prevent the abuse and failed to consistently follow federal requirements for preventing, detecting, and reporting abuse.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said that sexual harassment of children in residential shelters is ‘abusive, dehumanizing, and unlawful.’ ‘This lawsuit seeks relief for children who have been abused and harmed, and meaningful reforms to ensure no child in these shelters is ever subjected to sexual abuse again,’ she added.
Southwest Key, which receives grants from the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide housing and care for unaccompanied children, has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and inappropriate behavior, according to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
The nonprofit provides temporary housing for unaccompanied children who enter the United States without parents or other legal guardians and without lawful immigration status.
Defendant: Southwest Key Programs Inc.
Criminal charges: Pattern or practice of sexual abuse and harassment of unaccompanied children.
City and state: Austin, Texas.
Exact date: 2023.
Sentence or outcome: Lawsuit pending.
Related Federal Cases
- Alexander Joseph Johnson, Sex Trafficking of a Minor, Texas 2013 · Texas
- Travis Wayne Vavra, Child Sex Trafficking, Texas 2015 · Oklahoma
- Alex Samuel Lara Diaz, Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Minor, Texas 2025 · Texas
- Gregory James Flohr, Child Pornography Offenses, Texas 2026 · Texas
- Gilbert Andrew Longoria, Child Pornography Ring, Texas 2025 · Texas
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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