OIG of Nebraska Child Welfare releases official report on youth sex-abuse allegations at YRTC-Kearney

KEARNEY, Neb. —

After a nine-month investigation, we’re seeing the findings from Nebraska’s Child Welfare Inspector General.

That investigation covers allegations of young men being sexually abused at a state-run rehab and treatment facility.

The inspector general’s main concern is the lack of prioritizing youth when sexual allegations come to the surface, and the limitations of these investigations

“The facility and its administration did not condone any of this behavior,” Inspector General Jennifer Carter said. “They investigated it when they saw it, but it was never appropriately addressed.”

Office of Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare: YRTC Kearney investigation report

The report said, “…the number, breadth, and consistency of the allegations, along with the similarity to patterns of behavior seen in prior years, demonstrates a pervasive culture at YRTC-Kearney that normalized and insufficiently addressed behavior extending from boundary violations to inappropriate relationships and sexual abuse.”

Carter added to this in an interview with KETV, saying, “We did not expect, and have never experienced before, that high a number of allegations.”

Carter’s office was notified about 44 different sexual-abuse-related allegations at the facility from March 2025 to March 2026.

The report said the allegations “contained over 200 claims of a variety of specific behaviors within them.”

The report found the allegations came from 37 youth and were made against 19 different staff members.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services would not confirm with KETV whether the staffers were temporarily suspended pending investigations, nor the current employment status of all 19 staffers.

It’s worth noting only four allegations led to four former staffers getting criminally charged.

“The majority of them have been either unfounded, meaning they really had evidence that didn’t happen,” Carter said. “Or unsubstantiated, meaning we’re not sure, but there wasn’t clear evidence.”

She said of the four serious allegations that went to criminal court, “we did not receive notification of two of the incidents, because of how they were classified by [The Office of Juvenile Services’] Compliance [team]. So, we identified that as a potential gap as well.”

The report said the compliance team investigates allegations from teens at the Kearney facility.

“Our main point was we really need to be doing abuse, neglect, investigations,” Carter said.

The report said compliance investigations are limited;

“Compliance investigations do not determine if abuse and neglect occurred,” according to the report, along with how, “fact-finding is limited by Compliance’s process and jurisdiction, making it harder to determine if an incident actually occurred.”

Carter said the investigation process is not focused on youth.

“They cannot consent to those relationships, and we need to be viewing this as abuse rather than infractions by on the part of the youth,” she said.

The report stated DHHS’ Division of Children and Family Services (CFS) used to determine abuse and neglect of all types at the YRTCs but stopped in 2019.

In response to the report, DHHS said it’s “due to the inherent conflict of interest.”

Carter said she wants it back.

“There’s a spectrum of abuse and neglect. Not all of it is criminal,” she said. “So, we’re missing all of the noncriminal abuse and neglect when CFS is not doing abuse and neglect investigations at the YRTCs.”

In an official response to the report, DHHS said it’s implemented several enhancements to oversight, which KETV has covered in previous reports.

READ MORE: YRTC facilities see a shakeup from the top in leadership and other changes

The department also said the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections, a national nonprofit organization, evaluated the Kearney facility and gave a 100% compliance score on mandatory and non-mandatory practices.

The audit included interviews with all YRTC Kearney youth, there at that time.

According to the audit, the teens told the group they felt staffers care for their safety and that the facility is managed in a professional manner.

The state agency said it appreciates the OIG’s work, stating, “DHHS is carefully reviewing the OIG’s final report and will continue evaluating operations at Nebraska’s YRTCs to identify opportunities for continued improvement. The Department remains committed to making decisions that are in the best interests of the youth in its care while maintaining the highest standards of safety, accountability, and rehabilitation.”

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