BUNKIE — A lawsuit filed against a juvenile justice specialist and the state of Louisiana claims a teenager held at the Acadiana Center for Youth in Bunkie was repeatedly sexually abused by a staff member.

The lawsuit names Keyana Nash, who worked as a juvenile justice specialist at the facility and claims she had sexual intercourse with the 18-year-old teenager five times between February and May of 2025.

According to the petition, the sexual acts took place in an area known as "the cut," located in the "bulldog" dorm of the facility, as well as the day area and bathroom.

The petition claims Nash schemed to keep the teenager at the facility by repeatedly writing him up so the abuse could continue. The lawsuit also claims Nash used pepper spray on and physically beat the teen and other teenagers held at the facility.

The teenager reportedly called the Prison Rape Elimination Act hotline repeatedly in May, but the lawsuit says nothing came of it. The petition also claims the facility later removed PREA informational signs.

The teenager documented the abuse in a journal, which was later seized by the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's Office during the investigation.

Nash was arrested and charged with malfeasance in office for sexual conduct in May of 2025.

The lawsuit says Nash's conduct was not an isolated situation. On May 9, 2025, another juvenile justice specialist named Khy Winbush was arrested for having sex with juvenile inmates at the same facility. On Aug. 13, another guard at the Acadiana Center for Youth, Regina Holmes, was arrested for criminal sexual acts with an inmate.

The petition claims the leadership at the Acadiana Center for Youth and the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice allowed guards to control and manipulate the teenagers in their care, and that supervisors either knew of the ongoing abuse or were completely incompetent.