This story contains descriptions of sexual assault. If you or someone you know may be a victim of sexual assault, confidential support, information and advice are available at the National Sexual Assault Hotline by calling 800-656-4673. Text chat is also available online.

A former employee at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn has been charged with grooming and sexually assaulting youth placed in the state’s custody and supplying vaping devices to incarcerated youth.

Cherie MacDougall, 42, was arraigned in Marion County Circuit court this week on three counts of supplying contraband, three counts of conspiracy to supply contraband, two counts of custodial sexual misconduct and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm.

MacDougall’s employment with the state ended in May of 2023. According to county records, she was arrested Tuesday and booked into Marion County Jail. Her bail is set at $100,000.

The Oregon Youth Authority has come under intense criticism lately as a number of previously incarcerated youth share stories of being abused while in the state’s care. The charges against MacDougall come after a 2022 investigation between the Oregon State Police and Oregon Department of Justice. MacDougall allegedly provided youth in custody with vaping devices. She is also accused of providing the same youth she is accused of having a sexual relationship with two firearms after they were released from MacLaren.

MacDougall was named in a civil lawsuit previously covered by OPB.

MacDougall allegedly told a 21-year-old, “You know what I can do to you,” which he understood to mean she would “get him in trouble if he told anyone about the sexual abuse,” according to the civil lawsuit filed in 2024.

A separate complaint alleges MacDougall groomed another youth when he was 15 years old and living in a unit at MacLaren for youth struggling with substance use. MacDougall “plied him with drugs despite knowing ... that he needed to demonstrate sobriety in order to earn parole,” the lawsuit said. The youth began failing drug tests, extending his sentence.

In June, the district attorney in Marion County, Paige Clarkson, said she would investigate the conditions and management of the state’s largest youth prison after dozens of youth claimed they were sexually abused while housed at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, the largest of the state’s juvenile detention facilities.

Clarkson said at the time that the sheer number of complaints and their degree of seriousness was almost “overwhelming.”

Will Howell, a spokesman for the youth authority said in a statement, “the alleged conduct is abhorrent, and the accused individual does not represent the thousands of trusted adults helping OYA youth become crime-free adults. Howell said that “Oregonians can count on OYA to act swiftly and decisively when individuals undermine our work.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/05/oregon-youth-authority-grooming-cherie-macdougall-sexual-assault-children/