Michigan sued by boy prisoners over sex abuse

ANN ARBOR (AP) -- A lawyer has sued Michigan on behalf of seven boys who say they were sexually and physically abused while in Michigan's prison system. Ann Arbor attorney Deborah LaBelle won a 2009 settlement for hundreds of female Michigan prisoners who said corrections officers sexually abused them. On Tuesday, she sued in Detroit federal court for seven male prisoners who report other inmates abused them when they were under 18. LaBelle requests class action status for the case on behalf of "at least 500 children" ages 14 and 17 who've been housed in Michigan prisons at least a year in the last three years. The Michigan Department of Corrections tells the Detroit Free Press that it hasn't housed 17-year-olds in the general prison population since Aug. 20. Published: Fri, Oct 18, 2013