FLORENCE, SC (WMBF) - A new lawsuit has been filed against a now-shut-down behavioral health facility in Florence.
An unnamed boy, who was a resident of Palmetto Pee Dee Behavioral Health in 2014 when he was 15, has filed a lawsuit against them and their parent company, alleging repeated physical and sexual abuse.
The boy is being represented by Bakari Sellers, Mario Pacella, Amy Willbanks and Alexandra Benevento of Strom Law Firm.
According to the lawsuit, the boy entered the facility in January of 2014, and the abuse began immediately.
The boy reportedly told staff that he woke up to his assigned roommate licking his feet and masturbating, immediately reporting it to the staff, who did nothing, according to a news release on the lawsuit from Michael Wukela.
The lawsuit claims that from there, the abuse only got worse for the boy, claiming at least six different residents were a part of it.
The abuse ranged from “unwanted advances and touching to violent beating and forced oral sex,” the lawsuit claims.
The boy claimed to have reported the abuse to staff, with no action ever being taken, the lawsuit says. He was then allegedly beaten for telling the staff as well.
According to the lawsuit, in one incident, “the facility’s staff simply watched the beating while doing nothing to intervene,” with one staff member allegedly recording the attack on her phone.
Even when severely injured, the boy was never taken to the hospital for his injuries and was only given “a Tylenol,” the lawsuit claims.
“It’s horrific,” said Sellers, a civil rights attorney. “We would be disgusted to see adults enduring this kind of abuse at a prison, but to see it visited upon children at a medical facility where they should be safe and cared for is something else entirely.”
The lawsuit goes on to mention a specific staff member who would allegedly beat the unnamed boy himself.
Other staff members would give the teenage residents alcohol and force them to have sex, according to the release Wukela.
“This young survivor is not alone, said Benevento. ”There are countless others like him suffering in the shadows because of what has happened to them. They didn’t deserve this abuse and we encourage them to come forward so we can stand with them.”
Sellers claimed that companies like Universal Health Services are aware of this kind of abuse, but don’t stop it because “taking action threatens their profit margin.”
The attorneys in this case confirm that they represent many clients like this boy across the state and plan to file lawsuits against similar facilities in the coming weeks.
Universal Health Services, the parent company of Palmetto Pee Dee Behavioral Health, said neither UHS nor the facility has been served with the lawsuit.
UHS also said that while it does not normally comment on pending litigation, it will be prepared to respond and defend against those claims through the judicial process.
Palmetto Pee Dee Behavioral Health shut its doors in June of 2019. The CEO of the facility said the decision came after reviewing multiple factors, including “the cost required to renovate the aging leased property.”
The center had a history of violations and fines, including a $15,800 fine from the state Health Department.
A jury trial has been requested.
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