More students allege beatings, rape at Glen Mills Schools in new lawsuits
GLEN MILLS, Pa. - More former students at the nation's oldest reform school have filed lawsuits alleging that they were sexually abused and denied an education.
The five lawsuits against Glen Mills Schools were announced Wednesday.
The alleged abuse includes rape, sexual assault, beatings and death threats for reporting the abuse, according to the victims' attorneys.
"I was sexually abused multiple times, physically abused multiple times, verbal abuse. Every day at GlennMills was a horror to me—every day," Laboy Wiggins said Wednesday.
Wiggins was sent to Glen Mills in 1987 and attended for six months. He along with four others filed a lawsuit on Wednesday.
“When I was abused at Glen Mills I reported it to the staff and I was beaten for reporting it," Wiggins said.
Tawfeeq Abdul-Lateef was a standout football star at Glen Mills. He was also sent to the school from 2016-2017 with interest from several college programs.
“I had a goal that I had since I was like seven that was to be on the football field and they snatched that away from me," he said.
The lawsuit is seeking financial compensation for the five alleged victims.
An investigation by The Philadelphia Inquirer last year detailed decades of alleged abuse and cover-ups at the 193-year-old campus.
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The state in 2019 revoked all the school's licenses, weeks after ordering all remaining students be removed from the Delaware County campus.
Last week, based in part on the investigation into alleged physical abuse at Glen Mills Schools, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that he would ask lawmakers for another $40 million to help improve the services Pennsylvania provides to vulnerable children.
A Glen Mills spokesman called the allegations "heartbreaking."
"Our attorneys are now evaluating the lawsuit," said a statement provided by Jeff Jubelirer of Philadelphia-based public-relations firm Bellevue. "In the meantime, Glen Mills Schools continues to cooperate with all governmental authorities."
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