It is a sad testament to the juvenile detention system in NY when kids headed for detention are not even safe from those charged with caring for them. In a story in the Daily News, a Brooklyn man whose sole job was to see to the safety of teens in the juvenile detention system, was arrested for sexually assaulting 3 teen girls in his care. There article can be found here.
To be sure, the young people who find themselves facing incarceration have contributed to their own fates. They have made poor choices whether by deeds or choice of friends. But there is a reason that NY law requires Family Court's to choose the "least restrictive alternative" when considering what to do with a child who has been found guilty of committing a crime. That reason is rehabilitation. Indeed, the driving purpose of the entire system is supposed to be designed to craft solutions which will best serve these children' s long term best interests.
However, when children are victimized by either staff or fellow "inmates" in these facilities, the desired rehabilitation is near impossible to achieve. Whether better oversight of the facilities or a stricter selection process in the hiring of staff, or both, would have prevented this situation is unknown. But it is the least we can do to help children who find themselves in this manner of crisis.
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