2 teens testify that a Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center staff member sexually assaulted them in a back room

Two youths testified Tuesday that a Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center employee independently pulled down their shorts in a back room of the facility this spring and sexually assaulted them.

A 17-year-old girl, wearing a black button-up polo shirt, told the courtroom in Hamtramck’s 31st District Court that Svetlana Kuryanova told him after the incident, “Don’t tell anyone.” She promised to give him candy during her break at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center.

Kuryanova, 33, of Farmington Hills, was charged in May with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a detained minor. She is accused of attacking the two residents, then 16 and 17, on April 8. Both youths testified Tuesday that Kuryanova performed oral sex on them separately within minutes in the same back room.

She has since been fired.

After the testimony, Judge Alexis Krot ruled there was sufficient evidence to move the case to Wayne County Superior Court.

The second teen testified Tuesday, while handcuffed and dressed in a brown county-issued jumpsuit, that he was “shocked” and “scared” by what happened in the back room.

More: 6 staff members released from Wayne Co. juvenile detention center after investigation into alleged rape of boy by youth

A video played by prosecutors during Tuesday’s hearing shows Kuryanova – or Ms. K, as the youth identified her – entering a back room with a youth, only to be followed a few minutes later by another youth.

The teen in the prison uniform, who entered the back room after Kuryanova and the other inmate, testified that he saw the staffer sitting on the floor while the other youth pulled up his pants. He then said Kuryanova came over, removed his shorts and underwear and attacked him.

Kuryanova has pleaded not guilty. She faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.

Her attorney, Samuel Bennett, argued that the boys’ testimonies were inconsistent, particularly that one teen testified that the other had watched his sexual assault. The other teen testified that he had not witnessed it.

Several videos from inside the facility were played during the hearing, including one in which Wayne County Assistant District Attorney Elisabeth Moore said shows Kuryanova emerging from a back room with both boys, drinking water at a sink and then gargling. She stressed that it was evidence that supported the boys’ account of the attack.

Another video shows the teen, who testified in a prison uniform, and the staffer sitting close together in a common area at one point, their knees nearly touching. Moore said their hands touched, and the teen testified that during the interaction he held Kuryanova’s hand as they discussed tattoos. It was unclear whether that happened before or after the alleged attack.

The same teen later testified that Kuryanova entered his room, which staff are normally not allowed to enter, and told him she was leaving the unit. At that point, she offered to get him candy—Mike and Ikes—and wrote her phone number in his notebook.

Bennett questioned the youth during cross-examination about reporting to authorities that he was afraid in the facility because of frequent fights and being attacked by fellow residents.

The youth said he had spoken to Kuryanova about his criminal case before the attack and was frustrated because he thought he would be able to return home soon.

Contact Christine MacDonald: [email protected] or 313-418-2149. Follow her on X: @cmacfreep.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Teens: Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center Staff Attacked Us in Back Room