The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - A teenage girl has filed a federal lawsuit against two former employees at the state's only juvenile center for girls, alleging she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a male staff member.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Frankfort over conditions at the Morehead Youth Development Center.

The lawsuit names as defendants the alleged abuser, former youth worker Guy Nantell, and the center's former superintendent, Steven Wells of Morehead.

Nantell was fired in December after he admitted to state investigators that he had had sex with a teenage girl at the center, according to state records. He was charged in June with two felony counts based on allegations that he sexually abused two girls at the facility.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit was not one of those girls, said attorney Hans Poppe, who filed the lawsuit with lawyer David Friedman.

Nantell has pleaded not guilty. His trial is set for Jan. 4.

State Justice Cabinet officials forced Wells to resign in May. Records show that Wells had been aware of allegations that Nantell was abusing girls dating back to 2002. Nantell has declined to comment on the case.

The alleged victim in the lawsuit is now 17.

Poppe said the lawsuit could gain class-action status because lawyers believe many current and former residents were sexually victimized.

"We anticipate there will be dozens," Poppe said.

The lawsuit alleged that Wells, who became superintendent in 2002, ignored allegations that Nantell was sexually abusing residents at the center designed to treat and rehabilitate girls who have committed offenses.

"Nantell was able to sexually abuse and assault all class members because of Wells' deliberate indifference to their need for protection," the lawsuit said.

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Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com