2 Boys Caught Having Sex At Alexander Youth Center
Arkansas Democrat Gazette,
September 11, 1998
Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203
Fax 501-372-3908
Email: AROnline@ardemgaz.com
By Mary Hargrove Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
ALEXANDER -- Two boys allegedly were caught having sex at the Alexander
Youth Services Center in the same cottage where an employee was stabbed by a teen-ager on
Aug. 31.
An employee said he saw the boys, ages 14 and 17, engaged in sex in the laundry room at
the House of Hope cottage about 11 p.m. on Sept. 3.
The unit manager has been placed on administrative leave with pay while both incidents
are under investigation, said Joe Quinn, spokesman for the state Department of Human
Services.
"There have been two serious incidents in that facility in a short time,"
Quinn said. "We are very much looking at what the staff was doing at the time of the
episode. Were they awake? Were they vigilant?"
The Alexander campus is operated by the Youth Services Division, a part of Human
Services. It is the state’s only lockup for children declared delinquent and placed
in the custody of the state.
Lights out at the House of Hope cottage is at 9:30 p.m. and the teen-agers should be
locked in their rooms at that time.
The 14-year-old has been at the facility since July, committed to state custody by a
juvenile court judge for communicating a false alarm. The 17-year-old has been at
Alexander since February for theft of property.
Quinn said it is not clear if any charges will be filed in the sex incident.
However, "It does not appear to be a predatory situation where an older, larger
child was forcing himself on a smaller child," Quinn said.
The incident report was sent to Youth Services internal affairs investigator Gary
Staggs the next day. Staggs called the Child Abuse Hotline and the offense will be
investigated by state police.
Quinn said a new policy will soon allow staff at the center to call the hot line
directly.
A separate investigation is continuing in the Aug. 31 stabbing attack by a 15-year-old
boy on Youth Services worker Sherarick Paskell.
...... (excerpted)
[Home] [News] [Arkansas]
