A dozen formerly incarcerated youth filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Snohomish County, alleging decades of sexual abuse by staff at the Denney Youth Center and Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Everett.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington, also names 20 unidentified individuals accused of participating in or enabling the abuse, which allegedly occurred between 1986 and 2007.

According to Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman, which represents the plaintiffs, victims as young as 10 were subjected to repeated violent sexual assaults and coercion and death threats from staff if they reported the violence.

Attorneys claim the county failed to train and supervise employees, allowed “invasive strip searches,” and permitted staff to monitor children while s

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