A Southwest Key employee at a migrant children’s facility in Arizona is facing 11 charges after allegedly molesting at least eight unaccompanied migrant boys over a one year period, ProPublica reports:
The allegations against Levian D. Pacheco, who is HIV-positive, include that he performed oral sex on two of the teenagers and tried to force one of them to penetrate him anally. The other six teens—all between 15 and 17—said Pacheco had groped them through their clothing. All of the incidents are alleged to have taken place between August 2016 and July 2017, according to a court filing last week that laid out the government’s case.
The facility had been cited in 2017 for failing to complete background checks. “Pacheco worked for nearly four months without a complete background check, according to documents and an agency official. Those records did not show any previous arrests or convictions for sex offenses, they said.”
ProPublica reports that “the case, initially investigated by local police, is now proceeding through U.S. District Court in Phoenix. Pacheco had worked at Southwest Key’s Casa Kokopelli shelter, one of eight the company runs in Arizona, since May 2016.”
Just days ago, another Southwest Key employee was arrested and charged with molesting a 14-year-old detained girl, “accused of slipping into the girl's room late at night and forcibly kissing and inappropriately touching her, according to court documents,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Yet, despite a court order, the Trump administration continues to detain migrant children who have been separated from their parents in Southwest Key’s facilities, continuing to put them at added danger. These children must be freed now.
