Another teenager has filed a lawsuit claiming she was sexually assaulted by an employee at a state Department of Children and Families facility in Harwinton last year.
In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the then 14-year-old female was living at a group temporary shelter facility on Plymouth Road that was being operated by the Bridge Family Center. She had been placed there by the State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families.
The Bridge Family Center is contracted by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to provide temporary emergency housing for youth.
While she lived there from March of 2023 to May of 2023, the lawsuit said the 14-year-old female was raped and sexually assaulted by a facility employee. As a result, she reportedly suffered significant physical and emotional harm.
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This lawsuit comes after other allegations of sexual assault at the facility.
Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes previously said child abuse and sexual contact allegations between Bridge Center employees and teens and youth-on-youth dated back to 2021 and into 2023.
“In April of 2023 allegations of sexual contact between a Bridge employee and a young person, a careline report was made and immediate HR action was taken by the Bridge staff,” Dorantes previously said.
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Last summer, DCF issued a corrective action plan and admissions at the state-funded group home were halted.
In September of 2023, a separate lawsuit was brought against The Bridge Family Center. The plaintiff, the mother of a 14-year-old teen, alleged her child was physically abused and exposed to sexual assault when she lived at the home.
After this, admissions were halted and the center increased their support for the facility, according to DCF.
Back in November of 2023, DCF said the Bridge Family Center in Harwinton would have to close as a group home following allegations of child and sexual abuse.
