On Tuesday, a former Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility employee, Svetlana Kuryanova, was found guilty by a jury of sexually assaulting two teenagers detained at the facility. As per reports from The Detroit News, the 34-year-old Farmington Hills resident was convicted of two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, each potentially carrying a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison upon sentencing scheduled for July 9.
Allegations first surfaced when a 16-year-old conveyed incidents of assault by Kuryanova to a therapist. Details emerged that the assaults took place at around 7 p.m. on April 8, 2024. The Detroit Free Press disclosed that surveillance footage showed Kuryanova, referred to as "Ms. K," entering a back room with each youth separately, a location without camera coverage and off-limits to detainees. Prosecutors argued that this footage aligned with the testimony given by the victims during the trial.
"We support the jury's decision in this case and remain committed to ensuring safety and dignity of every youth in our care," Wayne County spokesperson Doda Lulgjuraj said, acknowledging the conviction as a testament to the gravity of breaches in trust and the commitment to accountability within the juvenile system, as reported by the Detroit Free Press.
Despite the guilty verdict, Kuryanova's legal representative, Samuel Bennett, questioned the credibility of the accounts given by the teenage boys, stating, "They aren't the same stories because they are lying about what happened in that room." The Detroit Free Press noted Bennett's emphasis on the lack of physical evidence, including the absence of DNA, to corroborate the charges.
