Saturday, January 16, 1999
Two teens' allegations about jail to be aired
Kenton County official says stories of abuse groundless
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — A hearing Monday could determine whether Kenton Circuit Judge Greg Bartlett transfers two juveniles who are alleging that they endured physical, sexual and emotional abuse at Kenton County Jail.
The inmates — a 16-year-old from Covington who has been charged with second-degree burglary and a 17-year-old from Manchester, charged with first-degree assault and escape — want to be moved to a juvenile facility.
Two other juvenile offenders were transferred in December, after they also said they had been mistreated at the county jail. Investigators ruled that there was no truth to those allegations.
That's the outcome that Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson predicts for the latest round of accusations.
“I think they will ... be similar,” said Mr. Edmondson, who said that he's concerned that the juveniles are riding on the transfers that happened last month and hoping to “get some attention ... pull some strings.”
The teens now claiming abuse at the jail are supposed to be tried as adults.
In affidavits filed in Kenton Circuit Court earlier this week, the Covington teen alleges that jail personnel subjected him to sexual, emotional and physical abuse. The Manchester youth alleges that he has been subjected to “unlawful physical contact at the hands of several jail employees.”
He also said jail personnel have threatened to hog-tie him, use a stun gun on him and, if he does not behave, to get a gun and shoot him.
“We can't just ignore allegations of that serious nature,” Judge Bartlett said. “We can't ignore the allegations or overreact ... to them.”
Kenton County police offi cers and the Department of Juvenile Justice are investigating. Mr. Edmondson said results of the county's investigation could become part of the evidence presented at Monday's 1 p.m. hearing.
Results of the state investigation could be made available at the start of the week, said Terry Sebastian, spokesman for the state juvenile justice department.
Meanwhile, Jailer Terry Carl has separated the accused jail employees from the juveniles involved. But he doesn't give much credit to their charges.
“They're groundless,” he said. “They're meaningless. They know how to manipulate the system. The thing those allegations have done is put another bad light on the jail and the deputies.”
The jail has about 332 inmates — 311 adults and 21 juveniles. The overall capacity is 262.
The facility is under federal court orders regarding its treatment of juveniles. The Children's Law Center in Covington sued Kenton County and the state in 1991, alleging a lack of proper education, recreation and mental health screening.
The suit resulted in several mandates by U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman. One was that no juvenile is to stay in the county jail longer than 15 days, unless prosecutors intend to try him as an adult.
Round-the-clock monitors were posted in the jail in mid-December after the two juvenile offenders said they had been mistreated. The monitors, people who observed the treatment of juvenile offenders, stayed through Jan. 4.
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Two teens' allegations about jail to be aired
