OYA Lawsuit: Dr. Edwards, MacLaren Abuse, and How to File

The Oregon Youth Authority sexual abuse lawsuits are a rapidly growing wave of civil claims, now involving close to 100 plaintiffs, alleging that youth held at state juvenile facilities — most prominently the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn — were sexually abused by staff over four decades while OYA leadership looked away. Most of the claims focus on Dr. Edward Gary Edwards, MacLaren’s longtime physician, though additional suits name correctional officers, counselors, and coordinators at other facilities. Under Oregon Revised Statute § 12.117, child sexual abuse claims can be filed at any time, so survivors are not barred by the passage of years.¹

Who Dr. Edward Gary Edwards Was

Edwards served as the primary physician at MacLaren from at least the late 1970s until roughly 2017, and for much of that stretch he was the facility’s only doctor.² He held an Oregon medical license from July 1967 until it expired in January 2023, with no board actions or agreements on file.³ He died in February 2025 at 87, weeks before the first lawsuit was filed.⁴

Youth and staff at MacLaren knew him as “Dr. Cold Fingers,” a reference to ungloved genital and anal examinations he performed on incarcerated boys.⁵ Lawsuits describe the exams as invasive, medically unnecessary, and performed without a chaperone, sometimes while youth were shackled.⁶ One plaintiff alleges Edwards required him to fully undress at a follow-up appointment, fondled his genitals for about 10 minutes, and made comments about his body. Another says Edwards threatened to withhold medication if he did not comply.⁷ Staff allegedly joked about him and threatened misbehaving youth with visits to the doctor as punishment.⁸ A 2003 harassment complaint from a nurse concerned Edwards’s behavior toward her, not his treatment of youth.⁴

Other OYA Staff Named in Lawsuits

Suits filed since the Edwards litigation began have named several other former OYA employees at MacLaren, Hillcrest, and Oak Creek.

Scott J. Scrabeck, a correctional officer at Hillcrest from 1998 to 2017 who later transferred to Oak Creek before retiring in 2023, is accused by three women of sexually abusing them between 1999 and 2008. Scrabeck denied the allegations, telling reporters, “I’m not that kind of person.”⁹¹⁰
Alex Blevins, a group life coordinator at Oak Creek terminated by OYA in 2014 for unprofessionalism and dishonesty, is alleged in a lawsuit to have sexually abused a female youth between 2009 and 2011.¹¹
Robert L. Blacksmith, a former Hillcrest staffer terminated in 2006 for misusing state computer systems to contact a minor, was convicted in 2010 on 10 counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse and sentenced to 190 months in prison.¹¹
Emily Echtenkamp, a mental health counselor at MacLaren, pleaded guilty in March 2025 to three counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct and was sentenced to five years in prison for grooming and coercive sexual encounters with a youth.¹²
Travis Craft, a group life coordinator at Oak Creek, was indicted in Linn County in July 2024 on seven counts including felony custodial sexual misconduct, accused of grooming and coercing a 20-year-old resident into a sexual relationship. He was scheduled to stand trial as of 2026.¹³
Cherie MacDougall, whose OYA employment ended in May 2023, was arrested in September 2025 and charged with 10 counts including custodial sexual misconduct, supplying contraband, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. She is alleged to have supplied vaping devices to youth in custody and, after one individual’s release, provided that person with firearms and engaged in a sexual relationship with them.¹⁴¹⁵

What Plaintiffs Say OYA Did Wrong

The claims go beyond individual abusers. Plaintiffs allege that OYA administrators knew about Edwards’s behavior — the “Dr. Cold Fingers” nickname was common knowledge among staff — and that youth who reported abuse were ignored.⁷ According to the complaints, successive OYA administrations promoted Edwards and reinforced his authority as grievances accumulated. Lawsuits also allege OYA failed to implement or enforce federal Prison Rape Elimination Act standards designed to prevent sexual abuse in custodial settings.⁶ In at least one case, a staffer allegedly coerced a victim into withdrawing an abuse complaint by threatening to revoke family visitation. Attorney Peter Janci of Crew Janci LLP described a system that “protected predators” while “silencing victims.”¹⁶

The legal theories across the cases include federal civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Eighth Amendment violations, sexual battery of a child, negligence under the Oregon Tort Claims Act, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The December 2025 federal lawsuit names more than a dozen current and former OYA directors and MacLaren superintendents as defendants.¹⁷

A Marion County grand jury investigation, released in December 2025 as a 63-page report titled “Cascading Failures,” concluded that OYA’s Professional Standards Office — the internal unit that investigates abuse complaints — had 733 incomplete investigations and 3,400 cases with no record of review. The grand jury agreed with an earlier state investigation that former OYA Director Joseph O’Leary and former Chief Investigator Raymond Byrd had engaged in improper governmental conduct through their inability or unwillingness to manage that office.¹⁸

How Many People Have Sued and Where Things Stand

The litigation began on March 13, 2025, when Crew Janci LLP filed suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court on behalf of 10 men who said they were abused at MacLaren between 2000 and 2007. That suit sought $51 million.¹⁹ By July 2025, plaintiffs suing over Edwards’s alleged abuse had grown to 51, and potential state liability topped $250 million.¹¹ A sixth suit followed in September on behalf of 11 more victims.²⁰ In December 2025, 14 men filed a federal suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, represented by Schroeter Goldmark & Bender and Levi Merrithew Horst.¹⁷

By May 2026, at least 62 men had come forward with allegations against Edwards specifically, and nearly 100 individuals had filed claims against OYA across roughly a dozen lawsuits. The most recent known filing came on May 11, 2026, from a plaintiff identified as “D.H.” in the U.S. District Court in Eugene, alleging abuse by Edwards between 2014 and 2018 and naming OYA, current Health Services Director Marcia Adams, former MacLaren Superintendent Dan Berger, and former OYA Director Fariborz Pakseresht as defendants.² Janci has said he has been contacted by nearly 200 individuals alleging abuse while in OYA custody.¹¹

The cases remain in early stages, with plaintiffs’ attorneys in discovery seeking documentation of what OYA leadership knew and when.²¹ The state filed a motion to dismiss one Edwards-related suit, still pending as of July 2025.⁹ No settlements or trial outcomes have been reported. Combined potential state liability from the Edwards-related claims alone exceeds $275 million.¹¹

Can You Still File a Claim in Oregon?

Yes. Oregon Revised Statute § 12.117 provides that civil actions based on child sexual abuse “may be commenced at any time,” so there is no filing deadline for claims arising from abuse suffered as a child.¹ That statute is what allows plaintiffs to sue over conduct going back to the 1980s and 1990s.

A pending bill, HB 3582 A introduced in the 2025 session, would go further. It would eliminate the statute of limitations for additional categories of child sexual abuse and sexual assault claims and remove the requirement that institutional defendants “knowingly” allowed the abuse, a standard Oregon courts have read to require actual knowledge rather than what a party should have known. The bill was declared an emergency measure, meaning it would take effect immediately upon passage.²²

Leadership and Agency Response

Governor Tina Kotek fired OYA Director Joe O’Leary on the day the first lawsuit was filed, after a Department of Administrative Services investigation found he had known about problems at the Professional Standards Office and was unable or unwilling to address them.² Raymond Byrd, head of that office, resigned during a peer audit. Jana McLellan served as interim director before Michael Tessean, a former Colorado corrections official, was appointed as permanent director. The governor also appointed an independent ombudsman, and OYA established a Safety Advisory Committee of external partners, added investigators to the Professional Standards Office, and began working through a backlog that included at least 700 uninvestigated complaints and 3,000 cases lacking final sign-off.²¹ The agency completed physical security upgrades and specialized PREA training for facility managers.²³

Fariborz Pakseresht, who led OYA from approximately 2008 to 2017 and is now a defendant in the May 2026 lawsuit, retired from his subsequent role as head of the Oregon Department of Human Services in October 2025.²⁴ OYA spokesman Will Howell said the agency “acts swiftly and decisively” when individuals undermine its work and that youth safety is “paramount.”⁹

1
Oregon Legislature. ORS 12.117
2
Statesman Journal. New Sex Abuse Lawsuit OYA
3
Oregon Medical Board. Verification Details for Edward Gary Edwards
4
The Oregonian. Oregon Youth Prison Doctor Accused of Sexually Abusing Boys for Years
5
KOIN. Oregon’s Dr. Cold Fingers Faces New Allegations of Sexual Abuse
6
Schroeter Goldmark & Bender. Fourteen Additional Men Sue Oregon Youth Authority
7
KGW. Men Sue Oregon Youth Authority Alleging Decades of Sexual Abuse by Doctor
8
KATU. Oregon Youth Authority Faces $51M Lawsuit Alleging Sexual Abuse of Incarcerated Boys
9
The Oregonian. New Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Filed Against Three Former Oregon Youth Prison Staff
10
KOIN. 55 Men Allege Abuse at OYA After Additional Lawsuits Filed
11
Crew Janci LLP. OYA Lawsuits Scott Scrabeck Robert Blacksmith Alex Blevins
12
Statesman Journal. Emily Echtenkamp Sex Abuse MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility
13
The Oregonian. Three More Oregon Youth Prison Inmates File Civil Rights Suits Alleging Sexual Abuse by Staff
14
Marion County District Attorney’s Office. Cherie MacDougall Arraignment
15
OPB. Oregon Youth Authority Grooming Cherie MacDougall Sexual Assault Children
16
OPB. Lawsuits Oregon Youth Authority Staff Sexual Assault
17
Statesman Journal. Oregon Youth Authority MacLaren Doctor Lawsuit
18
KATU. Grand Jury Inquiry Report on MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility
19
Crew Janci LLP. Crew Janci Lawsuit Oregon Youth Authority Sexual Abuse
20
KPTV. More Victims File Lawsuit Against Oregon Youth Authority Over Claims of Sexual Abuse
21
OPB. Oregon Youth Authority Abuse
22
Oregon State Legislature. HB 3582 A Committee Meeting Document
23
Oregon Youth Authority. 2025 OYA PREA Report
24
OPB. Fariborz Pakseresht Human Services Oregon