How Could You? Hall of Shame- Antonio Hopkins and Trulon Henry UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Chicago, Illinois, a “former standout college football star with a criminal history [Antonio Hopkins]was charged with sexually abusing a foster child in the care of a Chicago facility.

The center, Aunt Martha’s, was already in the middle of an investigation after multiple other workers there were accused of abuse.

Trulon Henry, a manager at Aunt Martha’s, was arrested and charged last week with sexually abusing a young girl in the care of the facility’s integrated care center. He was a supervisor in charge of taking care of some of the state’s most vulnerable foster children.

The arrest came soon after Antonio Hopkins, who worked for Aunt Martha’s through a third-party security firm, was also arrested and charged with abuse of a child.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services started investigating the case last August, but didn’t stop sending kids there until May.

In addition to the two arrests, CBS News Chicago learned another supervisor was being investigated. There were also about 170 other pending investigations involving Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center (ICC).

“It’s incredibly high,” said Alpa Jayanti Patel, chief deputy public guardian for the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian.

Patel said the judges who handle placements weren’t made aware of the accusations until several months later and continued placing children at Aunt Martha’s as a result.

“Nobody knew about it,” Patel said. “Nobody was informed about it, the courts were certainly not informed about it, and that to me doesn’t pass the smell test at all.”

The lack of knowledge left children vulnerable.

“These children again, were basically proven right by believing that no adult was out there looking after them, and that they were pretty much fair game to anybody to victimize them,” Patel said.

Henry was a standout linebacker at the University of Illinois, graduating in 2011. His real-life redemption story of being convicted of armed robbery when he was 19 was a fact highlighted in several news reports and in a Big Ten Network feature story in 2010.

CBS News Chicago asked Aunt Martha’s and DCFS how Henry was able to work with foster children given his previous criminal conviction and why courts weren’t notified of abuse allegations earlier.

DCFS didn’t answer those questions but confirmed that all kids had been removed from Aunt Martha’s as of June 30.

“Everyone let them down,” Patel said. “That’s the reality of the situation.”

DCFS said it put in place 24/7 monitoring at the facility, which continued until all the kids in care were moved out.”

Another worker at Chicago center accused of abusing foster children in his care
[CBS 2 7/2/24 by Megan Hickey, Michele Youngerman]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:“A former stand-out college football star with a criminal history has been convicted of sexually abusing foster children who were in the care of a Chicago facility at the center of a massive investigation.

For years, the CBS News Investigators have been digging into allegations made against employees at Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center, a facility that provided emergency placements for kids under the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

The abuse accusations are no longer just allegations, after a jury convicted former Aunt Martha’s youth center manager Trulon Henry of multiple sexual assault charges last week.

Court records show Henry worked for Aunt Martha’s youth center as a manager from January 2023 to April 2024, during which time five kids between the ages of 12 and 17 disclosed “grooming and sexual abuse.”

More than a year and a half after he was arrested and charged, last week, a Cook County jury found him guilty of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child.

It’s still a mystery how Henry was hired in the first place, because the former University of Illinois linebacker already was a convicted felon when he was hired.

He was convicted of armed robbery when he was 19, and sentenced to five years in prison, a fact highlighted in several news reports and in a Big Ten Network feature story in 2010.”

“He was the second Aunt Martha’s employee arrested and charged with abuse of a child.

First came Antonio Hopkins, who worked at Aunt Martha’s through a third-party security firm, A-Alert, which was the subject of a letter obtained by the CBS News Chicago Investigators. The letter to the Inspector General of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services from the Cook County Public Guardian showed that Aunt Martha’s started raising concerns with A-Alert employees as early as 2022.

After DCFS was made aware of a July 2023 incident report involving Hopkins and a child, DCFS Deputy Director of Child Services wrote in an email, “let’s all review the allegations outlined in this document and be prepared to provide evidence to dispute it. I am certain most of this is a stretch based on one occurrence, anecdote, and general misrepresentation.”

A DCFS spokesperson said that email “was completely unrelated to the incident involving Hopkins and a child. The email was involving another matter entirely. Any allegations of sexual abuse are investigated immediately.””

“But incidents continued, and a January 2024 email shows that additional staff was brought in to specifically oversee A-Alert staff; so, guards to guard the guards.

Emails show Aunt Martha’s repeatedly asked DCFS to move away from using A-Alert.

“In fact, Aunt Martha’s has communicated our concerns regarding A-Alert to DCFS no fewer than 20 times,” the CEO wrote in March 2024.

But it wasn’t until May 2024 that DCFS stopped sending youth to Aunt Martha’s ICC.

In a statement, a DCFS spokesperson said the agency ended its contract with Aunt Martha’s ICC. DCFS is also phasing out its contracts with A-Alert.

DCFS also said A-Alert was a subcontractor of Aunt Martha’s, and Aunt Martha’s had the unilateral ability to remove them at any time.

“As the contract clearly stated, if, at any point, Aunt Martha’s did not believe A-Alert was complying with the contract or not performing as required, Aunt Martha’s could have terminated A-Alert,” a DCFS spokesperson wrote.

As for the guards hired to watch over the guards, DCFS said it cannot speak to Aunt Martha’s decision to hire a second company rather than discontinuing the A-Alert contract.

Aunt Martha’s and A-Alert did not respond to requests for comment about the allegations made in that letter to the OIG. ”

Former worker at Chicago center for foster kids found guilty of sexual assault
[CBS News Chicago 4/1/26 by Megan De Mar]

Update 2:“”A house of horrors.” That’s how one former Chicago foster child described Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center, a facility that’s been at the center of a years-long CBS News Chicago investigation.

On Thursday, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was added as a defendant in a lawsuit accusing the foster facility of failing to protect a 17-year-old foster child from sexual assault by an Aunt Martha’s employee.

In March, a Cook County jury convicted former Aunt Martha’s youth center manager Trulon Henry of sexually assaulting that teen. There were also allegations involving five other girls, as young as 12.

A lawsuit filed earlier this month claims those sexual assaults and other abuse allegations at the state-funded foster care center went unchecked by DCFS for years.

“We pray for all the young people who suffered in the house of horrors,” attorney Ben Crump said on Thursday, after DCFS was added to the lawsuit.

Crump joined the legal fight against Aunt Martha’s just two weeks after a lawsuit was filed against the facility and its security contractor, A-Alert.

Now the Department of Children and Family Service is named in a complaint, filed on behalf of Yadira Escamilla, who said she and other minors were sexually abused at the now-shuttered facility on the city’s South Side.

In March, Henry was convicted of sexually assaulting then 17-year-old Escamilla and other female residents at Aunt Martha’s

Henry is scheduled to be sentenced in August. Escamilla alleges that after she reported abuse, DCFS removed her from Aunt Martha’s, but then sent her back, where she was isolated in a basement room and repeatedly assaulted by Henry.

The suit also alleges dangerous conditions at the facility.

“From 2018 until Aunt Martha’s was shut down, there were over 3,000 unusual incident reports to DCFS. The police were called to the facility 175 times,” said attorney Margaret Battersby Black.

Escamilla’s attorneys said DCFS should have stepped in sooner.

“Aunt Martha’s was supposed to give her a safe environment. They failed,” Crump said.

DCFS stopped sending children in its care to Aunt Martha’s in 2024, after Henry and another employee were charged with sexually abusing or sexually assaulting children.

DCFS said they could not comment on the allegations because this is still an active lawsuit. Aunt Martha’s and the security company have not responded to requests for comment.”

Lawsuit filed against Illinois DCFS over teen sex abuse at Aunt Martha’s foster care facility
[CBS News Chicago 6/18/26 by Megan De Mar]