Eighteen-year-old Quentin Bullock doesn't deny having sex with the older, bigger boys he lived with at a Department of Children and Family Services group home several years ago.
And he doesn't deny who he is-;a gay and curious young man.
But he does deny the title DCFS gave him when they found out about his sexual activities: juvenile sex offender.
Bullock was living at the group home in Merrillville when officials discovered he was having sex with other boys. While Bullock never denied the accusations, the older boys were ashamed, and Bullock was labeled the aggressor.
So he was shipped off to a residential facility for juvenile sex offenders in Mundelein.
Bullock, bright and well-spoken, lived among young boys with histories of sexual violence, including raping and sexually assaulting their siblings or other family members.
The boys' lives were strictly regimented, and, he said, "there was always something," including 30 hours of therapy a week, classes and meals.
Bullock had no visitation rights, and his contact with the outside world was limited to three five-minute phone calls a week. He wasn't allowed to visit his brother in the hospital, and he missed his grandmother's funeral.
"We never went anywhere," he said. "They kept us locked up."
It took a full year for DCFS officials to admit that Bullock shouldn't have been where he was, but by then, in many ways, it was too late.
With sex offender status on his record, no other group homes in Chicago wanted him. Even when officials tried to explain that the classification was a mistake, Bullock said he was turned away.
"A year of my life was taken away for nothing," he said.
The only place that would take him was in Peoria, several hours from his remaining family in Chicago.
He only lasted there a few months, and he now lives at a Rogers Park group home with his younger brother, Simeon, 17.
He blamed his situation on a lack of DCFS resources for GLBT-identified youth.
"All of this could have been avoided if they'd known how to deal with gay kids," he said. "DCFS needs to update their services. I feel like we're being left behind."
DCFS officials did not return phone calls seeking comment. In the past, DCFS has refused comment on similar cases involving openly GLBT youth.
A document on the DCFS Web site about Residential Care Facilities reads, "A study of the residential treatment system revealed that a significant number of children in care did not have a history of emotional disturbance or risk symptoms consistent with placement in high-end restrictive care. Based on this study, the Department established utilization management mechanisms to screen and approve all children prior to placement. In addition, a system of resident facility gatekeepers has been implemented to assure that children are more appropriately matched to their placement and to monitor progress in care."
After his ordeal, Bullock said he was assured that he and his brother would be given the option of living independently in their own apartment and being gradually weaned off the DCFS system.
But the boys haven't heard anything recently about independent living, and they characterized their status as being in limbo.
"All me and my brother have in this life is each other," Bullock said. "We're not going anywhere until we get what we want."
The boys were removed from the care of their abusive father about seven years ago, and their mother is deceased. Before DCFS took them, they lived off and on in an abandoned Uptown building to escape their father's wrath.
They are unhappy at the group home, which they described as dilapidated and unsupervised.
"The system is no better than my situation was at home," Bullock said.
He said DCFS has repeatedly tried to keep him from going public with his story, and until he turned 18 he deferred, afraid of losing the chance for his own place.
But now that he's 18, he said, he just wants to speak out.
"This issue has to be addressed at one time or another," he said.
He is also intent on making DCFS pay for what he feels the officials have done.
"All I want is what I'm entitled to," Bullock said.
"DCFS is constantly saying they're not the problem," he said. "But everyone is a part of the problem if you're not part of the cure."