Second Kearney staffer arrested on allegations she sexually abused youth in state’s care

(Editor’s note: This story contains allegations of sexual abuse of children. If you suspect that a child has been abused, call 800-652-1999 or report online.)

A second employee is facing criminal charges in connection with sexual abuse allegations at the state-run youth center in Kearney.

Katrina Fewkes, 44, was arrested Tuesday after being charged with second-degree sexual abuse of a protected individual, a felony that carries a maximum of three years in prison and $10,000 fine.

Her arrest came nearly five months after the state Department of Health and Human Services, which runs four youth centers, internally concluded there was no systemic problem at Kearney. A retired juvenile court judge called it “shocking” that DHHS hadn’t acknowledged a systemic problem, while a current judge questioned the department’s conclusion. 

Fewkes is accused of touching a then-17-year-old boy’s genitals around Oct. 1 of last year at the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Kearney. She was released Wednesday after posting bail.

DHHS suspended Fewkes when it became aware of the allegations. Fewkes told the Flatwater Free Press that she had been on paid leave but received a letter Wednesday saying her leave is now unpaid. 

The department will follow processes outlined in union agreements and state policy, which could result in disciplinary action including her termination, according to a spokesperson.

Fewkes denies the allegations, saying she herself has reported misconduct at the center multiple times. She detailed her own allegations about systemic problems in a document sent to Flatwater by a family member while Fewkes was in custody.

“They deserve everything that they get,” Fewkes said in a phone call after her release, referring to the center’s leadership. 

“I just believe the truth needs to be known,” she added.

Her arrest is the latest development in the fallout from a spate of accusations that started coming to light in court hearings last fall. Another employee, Martha Ruiz Palacios, was arrested last year on similar charges. Two others resigned but have not been charged.

Months had passed before judges, probation officials and the teens’ lawyers learned about some of the incidents. That sparked concerns about systemic problems at the center, where the state places teen boys in the juvenile justice system as one of its last resorts.

But by Oct. 21 — just weeks after allegations started surfacing in court — DHHS had already determined there was no systemic issue at YRTC-Kearney, according to an internal document Flatwater obtained through a public records request.

Agency leadership reached that conclusion based on its own “thorough investigation” of reported incidents, spokesperson Alycia Davis wrote in an email.

“That review indicated the alleged misconduct involved specific individuals rather than a broader operational issue,” she wrote.

The internal document is heavily redacted, but a DHHS spokesperson told Flatwater that it contains allegations against four staff members from 10 teens from March 26 to Oct. 20 of last year. 

The Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare’s independent investigation into YRTC-Kearney is ongoing and so far confidential. The Nebraska State Patrol has investigated individual allegations but not whether the issue is systemic. 

If more information emerges in those independent investigations, DHHS will “review it and take any further action necessary,” Davis said.

There are already signs, though, that the numbers in the Oct. 21 report may not reflect the scope of the problem. Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley told Flatwater in January that a fifth staff member was facing allegations.

Douglas County Juvenile Court Judge Amy Schuchman, who oversees at least two of the teens’ cases, questioned the agency’s internal determination.

Schuchman has held hearings in which she and lawyers grilled DHHS staff about allegations. She has written strongly worded court orders expressing disgust at a lack of transparency. She also wrote about her concern for the “systematic minimization, concealment, and disregard” by people in charge of the boys’ care. 

“Based upon the multiple evidentiary hearings that I’ve had and the multiple cases I have had with youth involved in the sexual assault perpetrations, I’m very interested in learning about how they arrived at that conclusion,” she said in a phone call this week after learning about the internal determination.

Retired Sarpy County Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Gendler, who served on the bench for nearly three decades, read through the heavily redacted document and also came away with questions. 

It says that YRTC jobs “naturally attract predators whom DHHS does not endorse.” He’d like to see supporting evidence.

Among actions taken, it says leadership met with judges in September to answer questions and create a new protocol. Gendler said he would like to know why judges didn’t know about the allegations sooner.

The document says staff will do additional training. But training is separate from culture, Gendler said, and it’s unclear how DHHS might address the culture.

Gendler said the report reads like an advertisement for what the department is doing.

“I mean, you’ve got a number of victims whose parents no longer trust the system — justifiably so,” Gendler said. “Their child was violated in horrific ways, and there really is no mention of this.”

Last fall, Gov. Jim Pillen promised the state would prosecute employees if accusations were proven true and would fire any managers who were “derelict in their supervision.” According to a DHHS spokesperson, no agency leaders have lost their jobs as a result of the allegations.

Laura Strimple, a spokesperson for the governor, said in a statement that DHHS has taken steps to improve staff accountability. This includes enhanced staff training, reporting requirements, video monitoring and unscheduled supervisory checks. The department also adjusted its structure so that there is now one person whose sole focus is supervising the YRTCs.

“As Governor Pillen stated previously, offenses against youth in state custody will not be tolerated, period,” Strimple wrote. “Steps will be undertaken to ensure they are not actively working while the investigation is ongoing and if indicated, termination of the staff person will be pursued.”

If state leaders get their way, ultimately no boys will be housed at the Kearney center. 

Pillen’s administration has disclosed plans to shuffle youth among multiple facilities in what department leaders say is a money-saving move in the best interest of kids’ safety. As part of that plan, all boys in the Kearney center would move to what’s currently the state’s only youth prison in Omaha. Girls from the state’s Hastings YRTC would move to Kearney.

First, though, state lawmakers have to approve a bill allowing the state to house girls in Kearney. And at a public hearing last month, several employees and union leaders testified in strong opposition to that bill, while senators on the Health and Human Services Committee probed DHHS leadership.

Lawmakers on the committee have since made it part of a wide-ranging amendment to a different bill that it has OK’d and prioritized. That bill and amendment are now up for consideration by the full Legislature with fewer than 20 days left in this year’s legislative session.

Opponents at the public hearing criticized the overall plan for several reasons, including a perceived lack of input and deliberation in its conception. Some also raised the ongoing situation at Kearney as a concern.

“The YRTC facility in Kearney has been under investigation for alleged sexual assault of the clients by staff, and given that female populations tend to be at a higher risk of this type of abuse, we think that this move creates more risk for an already vulnerable population,” said Luke Molzer, who spoke on behalf of his co-workers at a state-run youth facility in Lincoln.