Nine men and two women are suing after they say they were sexually assaulted as children while being held in juvenile lockups in several New Jersey counties.

The plaintiffs claim Cumberland, Passaic, Mercer and Hudson counties allowed a “rampant” culture of sexual abuse by juvenile detention center staff to fester for years, according to four separate lawsuits filed in New Jersey Superior Court in late November.

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An attorney representing the 11 plaintiffs, Corey Briskin, declined to comment on the litigation. Spokespeople for Cumberland, Passaic, Mercer and Hudson counties did not immediately return requests to comment.

The alleged abuse, which range from inappropriate touching to sexual assault, took place between 1984 and 2007, the lawsuits said.

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The plaintiffs — four people in the Cumberland suit, three in the Passaic, and two each in Mercer and Hudson — are identified only by their initials in court papers. The two female plaintiffs are part of the Mercer County case.

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One plaintiff in the Cumberland County case, a 38-year-old man, said he was 16 or 17 years old when he was groped by a corrections officer while assigned alone to a cleaning detail. The officer plied him with cigarettes, candy and snacks, and threatened to kill him if he reported the abuse, the lawsuit alleges.

Another plaintiff, a 48-year-old woman, was held in Mercer County Youth Detention Center from the ages of 12 and 15, her lawsuit said.

During her time in the Mercer Count detention center between 1988 and 1991, she was sexually assaulted at different times by three correctional officers, the lawsuit alleges. To keep her quiet, her abusers allegedly threatened to cut her down to one meal and an hour outside per day.

She eventually reported the abuse to a social worker, who did not believe her and told her she would be placed in foster care if she continued to discuss the matter, the complaint alleges.

All four detention centers were previously accused of subjecting young detainees to physical, sexual or psychological abuse, according to the complaints. The Passaic County Youth Detention Center was closed for financial reasons in 2009, and its detainees were moved to an Essex County facility.

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The civil suit is ongoing. Though Gov. Phil Murphy has repeatedly vowed to shutter Jamesburg and an equivalent facility, the Female Secure Care and Intake Facility, or Hayes, both facilities remain operational.

Like in the Jamesburg case, the four new suits were filed under the state’s Child Sexual Abuse Act, a 2019 law expanding the statute of limitations for civil claims made by alleged sexual assault survivors. It allows child victims to sue within seven years of first realizing that the abuse caused them harm or until they turn 55.