Department of Health and Human Services documents reveal the agency received more than 4,500 complaints of sexual abuse against unaccompanied minors held in the custody of the U.S. government from 2014 to 2018, according to Florida Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch.

Axios first reported the revelation on Tuesday, citing internal agency documents provided by Deutch's office. The HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement received 4,556 complaints, and the Justice Department received 1,303 complaints during the same time frame, according to the documents. It's unclear if there are overlaps in those allegations, Axios said.

According to Axios, "allegations against staff members reported to the DOJ included everything from rumors of relationships with UACs to showing pornographic videos to minors to forcibly touching minors' genitals." Of the reported thousands of complaints, the majority included allegations of abuse from other minors. But 178 accusations were made against adult staff at the government housing facilities, and 19 allegations were made against adult non-staff members, Axios reported.

The documents were produced as part of the agency's response to a House Judiciary Committee request in January for information. And, on Tuesday, Deutch addressed the documents during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Trump administration's child separation policy at the U.S. border. The administration separated more than 2,700 migrant children from their parents as part of the White House's "zero-tolerance" policy that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing the U.S. border illegally.

"Did people consider that when you went forward on the 'zero tolerance policy' that we're moving forward on a policy that would put these kids at risk of sexual assaults? That's the question," Deutch said.

With the number of allegations each year roughly breaking down to one sexual assault per week for the last three years, clearly this Administration is not equipped to keep these children safe inside their facilities. This is outrageous and disgraceful.



We demand answers. pic.twitter.com/r5yENffCvW — Rep. Ted Deutch (@RepTedDeutch) February 26, 2019

Cmdr. Jonathan White of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps told Deutch that "in every conversation that we had about separation, we opposed separation."

An HHS spokeswoman also told Axios, "when any allegations of abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect are made, they are taken seriously and ORR acts swiftly to investigate and respond."

In a separate committee hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers also voted to subpoena Trump administration officials for records on the government's "zero tolerance" policy and child separations. The House Oversight Committee authorized Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., to subpoena Attorney General William P. Barr, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in a 25-11 vote.

