NEWPORT NEWS - A Gloucester man has filed a $2 million lawsuit against the Youth Challenge of Hampton Roads, claiming they kicked him out, lied to a judge and landed him in prison.
Jeremy Adams was ordered to treatment at the rehab facility instead of a three and a half year sentence after being convicted on a marijuana possession charge in September 2012.
According to the complaint filed in Newport News Circuit Court, Adams cut himself while cleaning at the rehab facility in October 2012. The cut later became infected and required treatment at a hospital.
The lawsuit says that a worker at Youth Challenged accused Adams of having AIDS in November 2012 because his cut had still not healed.
In the lawsuit, Adams claims he has always tested negative for HIV and told the staff he did not have AIDS. Ultimately, the complaint says, Adams left the program and got tested for HIV at a hospital. The test came back negative.
After the negative test results, the lawsuit says staff at Youth Challenge agreed to take Adams back into its program. But, according to the lawsuit, a staff member at the program changed his mind after Adams returned and Adams was told to leave.
The story changed, though, at a hearing in June 2013 to determine whether or not Adams had violated the terms of his sentence.
A Youth Challenge staff member wrote the judge and claimed that Adams left the program without authorization and that he told staff he had AIDS but lied about it on his intake paperwork.
The judge ordered Adams to service his suspended prison sentence. He's not behind bars and will not be released until 2016.
A representative from Youth Challenge did not return multiple calls seeking comment on the accusations contained in the lawsuit.