District attorney says action taken as precaution after complaint by family
Thursday, September 18, 2008
By CRAIG MYERS
Staff Reporter
BAY MINETTE - One teen has been removed from Baldwin County's Girls Residential Wilderness Center in an "abundance of caution" after she and her parents complained about her experience there, District Attorney Judy Newcomb said Wednesday.
Newcomb said the girl was not injured and has been transferred to another facility during an ongoing investigation.
County officials confirmed this week that the Sheriff's Office, the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Youth Services are conducting inquiries into the juvenile rehabilitation program in north Baldwin County.
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The facility opened in 2007 as an alternative sentencing option for at-risk girls ages 13 to 18. An outdoor adventure course is part of an overall curriculum.
Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack said his office is investigating a report that a girl there inappropriately touched another girl, but he said that situation does not involve wrongdoing by staff members. Other agencies are looking into different allegations, but details were not available.
"There certainly is a juvenile who is upset by her time at the Wilderness Center, and we are trying to determine the facts of what may or may not have gone on. We're looking at the system as a whole," Newcomb said.
"My first contact was a request from her parents, who brought to our attention some things they felt were not appropriate with her care at the Wilderness Center. ... So we felt that in an abundance of caution we should put her in a different environment, and the judge agreed."
District Judge Carmen Bosch said in a written statement, "I am confident that the procedures followed by the wilderness program officials are adequately protecting the girls' safety and will continue to send girls there."
Newcomb said the facility is continuing normal operations and its staff is cooperating.
"I don't have enough facts to make a judgment about the situation," she said. "We are always, always concerned about troubled teens in our facilities. But they are there because they are troubled teens, so it is a double-edged sword. They can distort things, but it also can make them vulnerable because people might think they are less believable because they are a troubled teen. It is a difficult situation"
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