Woman who worked at Wayne County juvenile jail charged with sexual assault of two boys
A former worker at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility has been charged with the sexual assault of two boys.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced Saturday that Svetlana Kuryanova, 33, of Farmington Hills, has been charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct of a county prisoner, which carries a maximum 15-year sentence.
Kuryanova, a former juvenile detention specialist, allegedly sexually assaulted a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old at the facility at about 7 p.m. April 8.
“The allegations in this case are among the most disturbing ones that I have seen, "Worthy said in a statement. "It is hard to wrap my brain around the fact that this occurred in the Juvenile Detention Facility, and charged defendant is allegedly responsible for this illegal behavior."
Kuryanova is in custody and is expected to be arraigned Monday in 31st District Court in Hamtramck.
The case was investigated by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office. Further facts and evidence will be placed on the record in court at the preliminary examination, the Prosecutor's Office said.
More:Misconduct at troubled Wayne County juvenile jail almost all staff related
Reports compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services cite 60 violations at the facility in the past year, 50 of which involved staff errors.
More than 80% of the issues cited in state reports were found to be staffing-related, from not intervening in fights to hitting back at a child after a child struck a staff member, according to a review of the reports.
Some errors included not having enough staff members to adequately supervise the children, not properly intervening in incidents, not doing proper restraints and not correctly reporting and recording incidents.
The Office of Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans issued a press release Saturday following the announcement of the charges against Kuryanova.
“Wayne County will not tolerate the intentional exploitation of our youth," Kimberly Harry, interim director of communications for the office, said in a statement. "We will continue to prosecute any staff who compromises the safety and preys on the vulnerability of our young people and staff. We remain committed to upholding the integrity of public service."
On April 8, Juvenile Detention Facility staff that monitor live video of the housing units alerted supervisors of suspicious activity involving a female staffer and two male residents, and the staffer was "immediately separated from employment with Wayne County," the release said.
"This single bad actor is not representative of the values of Wayne County and the hardworking men and women of the Juvenile Detention Facility," Harry said in the statement.