A former inmate at Mount View Youth Services Center in Lakewood has filed a lawsuit against two detention workers and an administrator of the facility, stating he was assaulted while serving his sentence.
The 17-page complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, alleges that the youth, FrankieRhea Chiles, was picked up by a detention worker on Jan. 26, 2022, and slammed to the ground. The worker then put his knee on Chiles’ chest while Chiles cried out that he could not breathe.
The suit also alleges that the director of the facility dismissed Chiles’ claims.
“They should be ashamed of themselves,” Chiles told Denver7 Investigates.
Chiles said he spent 14 months at the facility for his role in an aggravated robbery as a minor.
“I don’t want (anybody) to experience what I experienced,” he said. “I’ve been having nightmares and stuff about this situation.”
Chiles described the incident to Denver7 Investigates, saying that one detention worker pushed him, threw him into the wall and grabbed him by the neck with two hands, lifting him to the ceiling before slamming him down on the floor.