Updated on March 31, 2024, with second suit filed by a former incarcerated teen
A former incarcerated teen at the state’s youth prison has filed a lawsuit against the woman who was his substance abuse counselor for allegedly sexually abusing him while he was in custody.
The young man, now in his early 20s and identified in the suit by initials S.Q., also claims in the federal suit that other staff at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn failed to report the now-fired counselor’s alleged abuse of him.
S.Q. alleges Emily Echtenkamp groomed him as soon as he arrived at MacLaren at age 17, gave gifts to him and his mother and began having sex with him at the juvenile detention facility a year later.
The sex occurred at least 20 times from September 2021 through April 2022, the suit states. The inmate wasn’t a minor at the time, according to the Marion County District Attorney’s Office.
Echtenkamp often arrived early in the morning to meet S.Q. in the facility’s kitchen, where he worked and when only one other staff member was present, according to the suit filed Monday night in U.S. District Court in Portland. The other employee knew of Echtenkamp’s meetings with S.Q. and “would turn his chair away” from the two to avoid seeing what was going on, the suit alleges.
At the time, Echtenkamp was in a sexual relationship with another staff member at MacLaren who was S.Q’s case coordinator, according to the suit. When the other staff member learned of the alleged abuse, he didn’t report it but instead retaliated against the teen in custody, according to the suit.
When Echtenkamp was caught having sex in custody on April 4, 2022, she claimed S.Q. raped her, according to the suit. Oregon State Police investigated, reviewed surveillance video from inside the detention facility and found Echtenkamp’s accusation unfounded, the suit says.
Instead, the state police investigation led to criminal charges against Echtenkamp, now 34.
A Marion County grand jury in December returned a seven-count indictment against Echtenkamp, charging her with five counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct, first-degree official misconduct and initiating a false report.
Echtenkamp, of Wilsonville, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. She posted $2,000, or 10% of her $20,000 bond, and was released pending trial. She was ordered to have no contact with S.Q. but has been allowed to travel regularly to Washington to visit family. Her next court date is May 20, according to court records.
The suit seeks unspecified economic and non-economic damages against Echtenkamp and other staff at MacLaren, alleging Echtenkamp and others subjected S.Q. to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of his civil rights and violated their professional boundaries with a prisoner.
Attorney Norah Van Dusen, who represents S.Q., said Echtenkamp engaged in a “gross abuse of her power as a therapist” working with boys and young men in custody who already come from traumatic backgrounds.
“It’s incredibly disappointing that this was occurring up until 2022,” she said.
The suit alleges that Echtenkamp had a “history of sexually abusing other youth” incarcerated at MacLaren, and encourages other potential victims to contact the lawyers in the case, Van Dusen and her co-counsel Jesse Merrithew.
Oregon Youth Authority spokesperson Liz Gharst said the agency can’t comment on the lawsuit but said, “We take the safety and wellbeing of youth seriously.’'
In late March, a second suit was filed against Oregon Youth Authority by another former incarcerated teen who alleges Echtenkamp sexually abused him in custody as well, starting when he was 17, after grooming him since he arrived at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility at age 15. The suit alleges Echtenkamp groomed this second youth by providing him with contraband, including marijuana “dab” pens and nicotine vape pens.
-- Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, follow her on X @maxoregonian, or on LinkedIn.
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