A former Maryland juvenile detention center employee who sexually abused 11 boys between 1968 and 1991 was ordered Tuesday to serve 10 years in prison.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Robert Cahill Jr. sentenced Ronald Neverdon on 11 counts of child sexual abuse. Neverdon held various positions at the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School from 1973 until his retirement in 2013.

The center on Old Harford Road used to be called the Maryland Training Center for Boys. The facility holds up to 72 youths who are awaiting placement or court proceedings.

Neverdon, 80, of Woodstock, would give the boys cigarettes, alcohol and cannabis and threaten to extend their stays or make their lives more difficult if they did not acquiesce to his demands, prosecutors said.

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After Baltimore County Police started their investigation in 2024, 69 men filed a lawsuit in Baltimore Circuit Court against the state of Maryland and the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, alleging that Neverdon sexually abused them while the government looked away.

Neverdon had been free on home detention while awaiting sentencing.

This story will be updated.