|
|
| Records show sex incidents at youth prison for sexual offenders |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/26/2004 |
|
Ohio's worst juvenile sex offenders have ample opportunity to continue illicit sexual activity in the prison holding them, a newspaper reported last Sunday. At first glance, the Circleville Juvenile Correctional Facility could pass for a private boys' high school if not for the fence topped with coils of razor wire. Several brown buildings arranged around a grassy courtyard are places where sex acts can go undetected or unreported, or unpunished when discovered, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Lack of sufficient state funding contributes to a need to bunk two youths already coping with sexual issues in a small room, and counseling tends to be in group sessions with social workers rather than individually with licensed therapists, the newspaper reported. The 264-bed, maximum-security lockup about 20 miles south of Columbus, administered by Ohio's Department of Youth Services, houses juvenile rapists and molesters from across Ohio. Ohio law provides the juvenile prison a certain amount of secrecy to protect children in state custody. But the Dispatch identified 123 sexual incidents from 2000 through early 2004, based on official reports of the State Highway Patrol, which investigates crimes on state property; Youth Services, prison inspections and juvenile-court files. Usually, the sexual incidents were written off by law enforcement as "consensual." None led to criminal charges. Some incidents allegedly involved employees who were fired or disciplined. The Circleville institution started housing only sex offenders in 2001, and sex incidents soared to more than one reported incident a week the next year. The frequency of reports has declined to about 20 a year in recent years. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think