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1 fired, 1 suspended in alleged
attack on juvenile inmate
October 21, 2005
By Dara Kam
Special to the Palm Beach Post
TALLAHASSEE — The secretary of the
Department of Juvenile Justice fired a Leon County detention officer
and suspended the head administrator Thursday, just hours after
being peppered by angry questions from lawmakers dissatisfied with
his handling of the alleged rape of a mentally retarded inmate by
another inmate in charge of bathing and diapering the victim.
Secretary Anthony Schembri fired
Don Williams, a Leon County Regional Detention Center guard who
reportedly told staffers there that "we have bigger things to worry
about right now" than whether Lee Donton, a juvenile who had been
convicted of sexual assault, was caring for the victim, whose IQ is
32.
Williams had worked for the
department for at least 11 years, Schembri spokesman Tom Denham said
Thursday. Schembri also suspended the center's superintendent, Linda
Edwards-Ellis, with pay, pending an internal investigation.
Schembri's actions came four months
after supervisors at the detention center learned that Donton had
been assigned to care for "Robert," a 16-year-old who could barely
speak, played with blocks and could not control his bowels,
according to a department memo.
Under questioning by the House
Justice Appropriations Committee, Schembri insisted he could not
fire or suspend officers at the center until an internal
investigation was completed. That investigation began just two weeks
ago, he said, because Tallahassee police officers had asked him to
hold off on it until they completed their own investigation.
But Donton was arrested on July 20
and sent directly to the adult jail based on two charges of sexual
battery on a minor. He remains there.
Republican committee members
appeared incredulous at Schembri's responses to why he had waited so
long to take action, growing more rancorous as the three-hour
meeting wore on.
"It's disheartening. You're the
secretary. It's right here in Leon County. This boy was sexually
abused, allegedly. Well, obviously, the police department and the
state attorney felt that the charges were warranted enough to arrest
him and direct file him into the adult system so they obviously had
some evidence. Based alone on that why wouldn't you take action?"
committee Chairman Gus Barreiro, R-Miami, demanded.
"We have rules in this department,"
Schembri responded.
But by the end of the day, Schembri
reversed his position, firing the guard and suspending the guard's
boss.
Tony Threatts, a supervisor at the
center, sent an e-mail to the superintendent regarding the two
detainees, saying "I want this off my hands" after his staff
reported that "Donton (a sexual offender) is being allowed to shower
and/or change (the victim's) diaper... and it was common practice
and all staff including the lieutenant were aware of it."
The lieutenant referred to was
Williams, according to Denham. When questioned by a staff member
about it, the e-mail continues, Williams responded, "We have bigger
things to worry about right now."
The scenario raised the specter of
the 2003 death of Omar Paisley, who died of a ruptured appendix
while in the department's custody. Schembri replaced former
Secretary Bill Bankhead, who resigned in the turmoil that followed
the boy's death.
"Robert" did not belong in the
detention facility, where guards were not trained to deal with an
inmate so developmentally challenged, Schembri and Barreiro agreed.
He had been placed there temporarily by a Leon County judge after
repeatedly pushing his grandmother, the memo states.
A mental health worker at the
detention center wrote in an e-mail to Ellis and others that
"Robert" required personal care assistance" including bathing,
personal hygiene and toilet aid.
"Please help! Robert needs an
environment that can offer him constant supervision" with personal
hygiene and living skills, Tracy Shelby wrote in June.
Original article:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/state/epaper/2005/10/21/a16a_juvie_1021.html.
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