Former Youth Guard Sentenced For Allowing Inmate-On-Inmate Attacks

ST. CHARLES, IL — A former prison guard at the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles has been sentenced to probation and community service for allowing inmates to attack each other while he was on duty.

Yorkville resident Michael Klimek, 46, has been ordered to serve 18 months of probation and 180 hours of community service, officials in Kane County said Monday. In April, a jury found him guilty of six counts of official misconduct and aggravated battery in a public place.

In January 2016, authorities say Klimek, a guard at the Illinois Youth Center, facilitated and encouraged certain juvenile detainees to physically attack other detainees as he stood by and did nothing to stop the attacks. He also did not report the attacks.

"The defendant maintained order through fear, bullying and beatings by opening doors, allowing certain youths to enter another youth’s cell with the sole intent of inflicting pain on that youth," assistant state's attorney Margaret O'Brien said in a statement earlier this year.

One of the detainees brought the abuse to light after he was beaten in a shower by two other detainees, O'Brien said. He told a therapist that his attackers were able to enter the shower because Klimek unlocked a door for them, according to O'Brien.

The therapist then reported the incident to officials at the youth center.

Three other guards were charged in 2016 in connection with the attacks, the Daily Herald is reporting. A judge acquitted them in 2021.

On Monday, O'Brien said the conviction ensures Klimeck will never be able to "manipulate, control or abuse his power over the same youths he should have been protecting."