08-29-07 A-3637-05T2
We hold that a county youth detention center is a "person
standing in loco parentis within the household" of a detained
juvenile within the meaning of the Child Sexual Abuse Act
(CSAA), N.J.S.A. 2A:61B-1. We further hold that the New Jersey
Tort Claims Act provisions, N.J.S.A. 59:2-10 and N.J.S.A. 59:9-2
(c) and (d), do not bar a juvenile detainee's compensatory and
punitive damages cause of action under the passive abuser
liability provision of the CSAA against the county youth
detention center and the county that operates the center, where
a worker with supervisory authority sexually abuses a child
under the age of eighteen years and those in supervisory
authority knowingly permit or acquiesce in the child sexual
abuse.
