A year after a teacher was raped and killed at a Prince George’s County youth detention center, many of the conditions that contributed to her death still persist, according to the watchdog that monitors the state’s juvenile justice system. Those conditions include chronic overcrowding, overburdened staff and a lack of security cameras, a new report by the state’s Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit says. A 14-year-old boy is charged with sexually assaulting, beating and strangling 65-year-old Hannah Wheeling at the Cheltenham Youth Facility last February. The Department of Juvenile Services says improvements have been made at the facility since then, but the monitoring unit says the reforms don’t go far enough.
The report says the two Cheltenham cottages that house the older and more challenging youth hold 60 percent more juveniles than their DJS-stated capacity.
And the furniture in those cottages is “aged, broken, torn and potentially dangerous,” said the report, which noted that “broken furniture parts could be used as weapons” and “contraband is easily hidden in the torn cushions.”
In its written response to the monitoring unit’s report, DJS maintained that “safety and security services were not compromised” despite population spikes. Jay Cleary, a department spokesman, added that the facility’s youth are court-ordered to be detained and “we’re not experiencing a decrease in youth.”
The report also criticized the department for persistent staff shortages, writing that youth were left locked in cells because of insufficient supervision and “youth spend many hours sitting idly” rather than receiving instruction.
Cleary said Cheltenham is improving in that area and has hired 18 new residential advisers in the past year.
Security adjustments at Cheltenham after Wheeling’s death include the enhanced lighting on the campus, panic buttons installed at the school, tighter entrance and exit protocols and radios for all staff.
But classrooms still lack security cameras and staff have not been given personal distress alarms, the report says.
Past reports from the monitoring unit have criticized Cheltenham staff for failing to follow supervision policies, but DJS said in its response that staff who work with the boys at the center have received additional training in safety protocols.
A judge is weighing whether to try the suspect in Wheeling’s case, who was 13 at the time of the attack, as an adult. A decision is expected this week, said Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the county State’s Attorney’s Office.
