Oregon Journalism Project revealed sworn staff statements alleging Oregon Youth Authority covered up physician abuse of youths

On August 19, 2026, Oregon Journalism Project (via Lookout Eugene-Springfield) reported that thirteen former Oregon Youth Authority staff had submitted sworn statements describing years of sexual abuse by a longtime agency physician and accusing OYA leaders of knowing about the abuse and doing nothing to stop it. The statements, filed in July 2026 in support of a group of pending federal lawsuits, allege that Dr. Edward Gary Edwards, the longtime chief medical officer at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, sexually abused young men in his care from approximately 2000 to 2017, including during purported medical exams. A July 27, 2026 amended complaint filed on behalf of eleven plaintiffs describes the abuse as including skin-on-skin fondling, digital penetration, and masturbation.

Former staff -- including a psychologist and a physician who worked at the facility -- said in their sworn statements that Edwards' practices deviated from medical norms, and that hundreds of written grievances and complaints referred to OYA's professional standards unit, the Oregon State Police, the Oregon Department of Human Services, and the Oregon Medical Board produced no investigation, discipline, or removal. Edwards was never fired; he retired in 2017 and died in February 2025.

Fariborz Pakseresht, who ran OYA from 2012 to 2017 and is named as a defendant in the litigation, went on to lead the Oregon Department of Human Services before retiring in 2025. Last month, Gov. Tina Kotek called him out of retirement to serve as interim director of the Oregon Health Authority, the state's largest agency. A lawyer representing sex-abuse victims called the appointment "inexcusable" given Pakseresht's status as a defendant in the OYA cases. OYA spokeswoman Debbi Martin said in a statement that "the alleged conduct is abhorrent and fundamentally inconsistent with what OYA stands for," but that the agency could not discuss the specific allegations because the matter is in pending litigation; a spokesperson for Kotek said the governor could not comment on pending litigation.