Inhumane treatment alleged at Ohio youth center

COLUMBUS (AP) — A lawsuit claims that youth inmates at a juvenile center in Ohio are often locked up 23 hours a day, regularly denied water and medical treatment and subject to harsh punishment.

The lawsuit filed today in federal court in Columbus says youth at the Washington County Juvenile Center in southeast Ohio are denied education and forced to work at for-profit businesses.

The lawsuit on behalf of eight inmates also alleges youth were forced to clean a gymnasium with toothbrushes and made to wear filthy smocks normally used for suicidal prisoners.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to order that conditions at the center be immediately improved and that inmates be awarded financial damage awards.

Messages left at the center and with Washington County commissioners were not immediately returned this afternoon.