Employees of Southwest Key Programs, the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S., repeatedly sexually abused and harassed children in their care for at least eight years, the Justice Department said Thursday, alleging a shocking litany of offenses by those employed by the company, which had amassed billions of dollars in government contracts, The Associated Press reports. Company staff, including supervisors, raped, touched or solicited sex and nude images of children beginning in 2015 and possibly earlier, the Justice Department said in a lawsuit filed this week. It was not immediately clear how many children are currently in Southwest Key’s vast network of shelters across three states, which have room for more than 6,300 children.
In a statement, Southwest Key disputed the portrayal of its work. The complaint “does not present the accurate picture of the care and commitment our employees provide to the youth and children," said Anais Biera Miracle, a spokesperson for Southwest. The nonprofit organization is the largest provider of housing for unaccompanied migrant children, operating under grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It has 29 child migrant shelters — 17 in Texas, 10 in Arizona and two in California. The company’s largest shelter in Brownsville, Texas, is at a converted Walmart with a capacity of 1,200. The lawsuit comes less than three weeks after a federal judge granted the Justice Department’s request to lift special court oversight of HHS’ care of unaccompanied migrant children.