A former worker at a shelter for immigrant youths in Arizona has been accused of molesting eight teenage boys over a nearly yearlong period at the facility, according to federal records cited by nonprofit news site ProPublica.
In a separate case, a federal contractor has also been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl at a facility in Phoenix operated by the same organization, Southwest Key Programs, according to court records in Maricopa, Ariz., The Washington Post reports.
The two cases highlight allegations of abuse and poor conditions at shelters housing migrant children that have come into focus since the Trump administration’s now-rescinded policy of separating families at the Southern border. A federal judge ordered more than 2,500 children who were separated from their parents to be reunited.
According to federal court documents cited by ProPublica, Levian D. Pacheco, 25, worked at Southwest Key’s Casa Kokopelli facility over the period from May 2016 to July 2017. Between August 2016 and July 2017, he is alleged to have performed oral sex on two teenage boys and tried to force another to engage in anal intercourse.