Judge finds no contempt, 12-year-old boy to remain locked up in juvenile detention
Judge denies contempt motion against Hennepin Co.
A judge has denied a civil contempt motion against Hennepin County for keeping a 12-year-old boy locked up illegally in the Juvenile Detention Center. The case has shined a spotlight on the growing issue of placing young offenders, deemed incompetent in the juvenile justice system, in an appropriate care setting. Stakeholders have said, there are not enough resources.
A judge has denied a civil contempt motion against Hennepin County for keeping a 12-year-old boy locked up illegally in the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC).
The case has shined a spotlight on the growing issue of placing young offenders, deemed incompetent in the juvenile justice system, in an appropriate care setting. Stakeholders have said there are not enough resources.
READ MORE: Hennepin County facing contempt allegations for detaining young offenders
The child, who has run away from his Minneapolis home numerous times and been kicked out of school, has been deemed a safety risk to himself and others.
He has been connected to numerous crimes involving guns, stolen cars, and robberies.
The county’s child protection services unit is involved. By law, the county has 24 hours to get the boy out of the locked detention center. He has been there three weeks. Efforts to move him to an appropriate care facility have failed as he has been rejected because of his behavioral history and low IQ score.
His attorney had asked the court to find the county in contempt for leaving him locked up at the JDC – demanding him to be released or moved immediately.
On Thursday, Hennepin County Judge Todd Fellman ruled there is no contempt, writing the county has "proven by a preponderance of the evidence, that it has acted in good faith in trying to comply with the Court’s order by making active efforts to find a suitable placement for the (boy)."
County officials have said they have found an appropriate, secured, psychiatric facility for the child in the state of Virgina with a bed available for him by the end of the month.