Kearney, Nebraska — A teenager held at Nebraska’s state-run Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Kearney has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that two state employees sexually abused him and that five others ignored warnings, and that the facility punished him for “falsely reporting staff sexual misconduct” when he tried to report it.
The suit, filed in early October in U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, names seven current or former employees of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, according to the Flatwater Free Press. It arrives weeks after the state’s Inspector General of Child Welfare told lawmakers that 37 youth at the same facility made 44 sexual-abuse-related allegations against 19 staff members.
What the lawsuit alleges
The complaint says former employee Jessica Camacho began grooming the boy almost as soon as he arrived at YRTC-Kearney in October 2023, when he was 16. It alleges she won him over with gifts and promises, led him to areas outside camera view and repeatedly sexually abused him. A second former employee allegedly touched him through an opening in his cell door.
Camacho, who resigned, is charged in Buffalo County Court with six felonies, including sexual abuse of a protected person, possession of child pornography and child abuse. She has pleaded not guilty.
The other five defendants are two administrators DHHS later removed and three employees of its compliance unit, which reviews abuse allegations at the youth centers. Three of the seven still work for DHHS, the Flatwater Free Press reported.
Warnings the system closed as “unfounded”
An allegation that Camacho had sex with a detained youth, made weeks after the boy arrived, was closed as “unfounded,” the complaint says. She was counseled about “physical boundaries” with teens in February 2024. When another staff member reported the relationship in February 2025, compliance staff again classified the allegation as “unfounded.”
When the boy reported the abuse, the suit says, he was told he was being manipulative and was placed in confinement. A compliance employee described him as having “an extensive pattern of making accusations,” and in August 2024 he was punished for false reporting and made to write a two-page paper on the subject.
After Camacho was suspended for sharing a drink with another youth, staff found a phone she had given the boy that held sexually explicit photos and videos of her. The suit alleges officials did not share it with the boy’s probation officer, his lawyers or the juvenile court. In late September 2025, Douglas County Juvenile Court Judge Amy Schuchman held an emergency hearing, ordered him moved and wrote that she was “disgusted and disturbed” by the lack of transparency.
What the inspector general found
The inspector general’s annual report, dated Sept. 15, 2026, summarizes Inspector General Jennifer A. Carter’s investigation of YRTC-Kearney from March 2025 to March 2026. Four staff members had been criminally charged with sexual abuse of protected individuals, it says.
The culture at YRTC-Kearney normalized inappropriate staff behavior, which the facility failed to sufficiently address.
Office of Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare, FY 2025-2026 annual report
The office found “numerous issues and limitations” with the compliance unit’s reviews, and said it was never notified of the first incidents in March and April 2025 because compliance decided they were not Prison Rape Elimination Act violations. It recommended that DHHS resume its own abuse and neglect investigations at the youth centers and that the law require the inspector general be notified of every allegation of staff abuse of youth.
What comes next
The plaintiff seeks a jury trial, compensatory damages and punitive damages. He is represented by Ross Pesek of Pesek Law in Omaha. DHHS spokesperson Jeff Powell said the department was “unable to comment on pending litigation.” DHHS removed the facility’s top leader and her supervisor but denies systemic problems, the Flatwater Free Press reported.
State court offers little relief: under the Nebraska Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Moser v. State, the state is immune from negligence suits arising out of assault or battery. In 2024, Gov. Jim Pillen vetoed LB 25, a bill passed 28-17 to make it easier to sue public bodies over child abuse.
The Kearney case shows a pattern FAN documents across the country: when an agency investigates itself, complaints from children in its custody are labeled “unfounded,” and the child who speaks up is the one disciplined. Officials who ignored warnings must face outside review and legal accountability. Read more about foster care system problems.
Key facts
- A former YRTC-Kearney resident sued seven current or former Nebraska DHHS employees in federal court in early October 2026.
- The suit alleges two employees sexually abused him and five ignored warnings.
- Former employee Jessica Camacho has pleaded not guilty to six felonies.
- The inspector general found 44 sexual-abuse-related allegations by 37 youth against 19 staff at YRTC-Kearney from March 2025 to March 2026.
- Four staff members have been criminally charged with sexual abuse of protected individuals.
Sources
- Flatwater Free Press — State employees abused Omaha teen, who was then punished when he reported it, lawsuit alleges (2026-10-01)
- Office of Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare — Annual Report FY 2025-2026 (2026-09-15)
- Flatwater Free Press — Teens were allegedly abused by state employees. It will be hard to sue the state. (2026-09-25)
- WOWT — Fourth former Kearney YRTC employee charged with sex crimes (2026-06-19)
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