Kentucky's juvenile justice system has faced challenges in accommodating the rising number of youths accused of violent crimes, leading to a series of assaults, riots, escapes, and incidents of abuse and neglect in juvenile detention centers.
The Justice Department announced that it has launched a statewide investigation into the conditions at eight youth detention centers and one youth development center operated by the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice.
The investigation will assess whether Kentucky adequately protects children in these facilities from harm due to excessive force by staff, prolonged and punitive isolation, and insufficient protection from violence and sexual abuse. Additionally, the investigation will examine whether Kentucky provides adequate mental health services and the necessary special education and related services to children with disabilities.
“Confinement in the juvenile justice system should help children avoid future contact with law enforcement and mature into law-abiding, productive members of society. Too often, juvenile justice facilities break our children, exposing them to dangerous and traumatic conditions,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We are launching this investigation to ensure that children in Kentucky youth detention facilities are safe from harm, receive adequate mental health care and get appropriate special education services. All children held in the custody of the state deserve safe and humane conditions that can bring about true rehabilitation and reform.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky stands ready to protect the rights of all children in Kentucky, including those who end up in juvenile detention,” said U.S. Attorney Mike Bennett for the Western District of Kentucky. “We look forward to partnering with the Civil Rights Division and our colleagues in the Eastern District to conduct a fair and thorough investigation of these allegations.”
The Justice department describes this investigation will focus on detention centers, which primarily hold children awaiting court hearings. Nationally, these centers admit nearly 200,000 children annually, with around 16,000 youths detained on any given night. The average length of stay for a child in detention is 27 days, but research showed that even shorter stays can have significant and potentially lifelong negative effects on children.
The department has not yet reached any conclusions regarding the allegations. The investigation will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which authorize the department to investigate systemic violations of young people's rights in juvenile justice facilities.
Kentucky's juvenile justice system has faced challenges in accommodating the rising number of youths accused of violent crimes, leading to a series of assaults, riots, escapes, and incidents of abuse and neglect in juvenile detention centers.
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A prior case involving a former employee of a Kentucky juvenile detention facility, Nathaniel Lumpkins, pleaded guilty on April 8 to breaking a 15-year-old boy’s arm.
Lumpkins admitted to violating the teen’s constitutional right to be free from excessive force and to falsifying records to obstruct justice. According to the Department of Justice, Lumpkins, from Elkfork, was working at the Woodsbend Youth Development Center, a Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice facility in West Liberty, when he used unreasonable force to restrain the 15-year-old, resulting in a broken arm. The incident occurred in January 2019 when Lumpkins responded to a call to assist two other staff members who were trying to calm the teen.
During the incident, Lumpkins employed an improper restraint technique, breaking the teen’s wrist. He then wrote and signed a report falsely claiming that the teen was aggressive and had threatened to kill staff, omitting his use of the improper technique and the injury he caused. The plea agreement states that the teen was compliant and not a threat when Lumpkins used excessive force.
Nathaniel K. Lumpkins, 32, of Elkfork, Ky., was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and falsifying records to obstruct justice. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
According to Fox 56, a federal class-action lawsuit filed claimed that two teenage girls at a troubled Kentucky juvenile detention center were kept in isolation cells for weeks under unsanitary conditions, including a padded cell without a toilet.
The girls were held at the Adair County Youth Detention Center in late 2022, during the same period when state police reported a riot at the facility that began after a juvenile assaulted a staff member. This and other violent incidents at juvenile facilities prompted Governor Andy Beshear’s administration to implement new policies, including segregating male juveniles charged with serious crimes into separate facilities and establishing a female-only detention center in northern Kentucky. Additionally, a legal action was filed in New Jersey against one of the state's youth detention centers, alleging a "culture of abuse" where staff sexually abused boys over decades.
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Add it to massive list of issues this state sits on. I can't imagine how the many victims have suffered