State considers wilderness camps for jailed juveniles

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The proposal would be part of an effort to remove the state's juvenile justice system from the review of a federal judge and resolve a class-action lawsuit.

A spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford declined on Monday to discuss details but said the new juvenile justice director, former Family Court Judge William Byars, wants to expand the use of wilderness camps as an alternative to juvenile prisons.

The South Carolina General Assembly launched hearings last year following reports by The Greenville News that the state paid $1.1 million to settle claims that children as young as 10 had been sexually assaulted by other juveniles in state detention facilities.

And U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson told state officials in May to install video cameras and hire more officers to stop the sexual assaults of juveniles.

Sanford's spokesman, Chris Drummond, said the state contracts with a private company for operation of about a half-dozen wilderness camps, which offer therapeutic care and education in remote settings.

"I think if the wilderness camp program is allowed to expand, I think this would be in line and probably okay with the governor," Drummond said.

Both Byars and Columbia lawyer Gaston Fairey, who represents juveniles in the class-action suit, declined to comment on today's hearing. The hearing was scheduled initially to take up the state's motion to dismiss the lawsuit and end federal intervention.

The state's former juvenile justice director, Gina Wood, asked Anderson last November to end federal oversight in the case, saying conditions had improved.

In the lawsuit, six juveniles allege overcrowding, physical abuse and inadequate medical care at the agency's three juvenile prisons. A panel appointed by Anderson found that conditions had improved but the agency still needed to address problems, including low staffing.

"I think the most important thing is to get out from under supervision of the court system, that's a priority," Drummond said. "I also think providing options in lieu of incarceration for those determined to participate in a wilderness camp is beneficial. But it's not for everybody."

Wood told lawmakers last year the agency has made great strides in caring for its detained juveniles, including the construction of new facilities, more staff, improved training and a drop in the number of juveniles kept in the agency's three long-term facilities.

Wood and agency representatives told lawmakers the agency substantiated five sexual assaults and 227 cases of lesser sexual misconduct involving juveniles in 2001.

Fairey estimated to lawmakers that as many as 100 children a year are assaulted in state facilities, a number the agency disputed.

The Columbia lawyer subsequently filed lawsuits alleging that a dozen juveniles have been sexually or physically assaulted by other juveniles at state facilities and that the agency was negligent in not preventing the attacks.

In April, the retiring chief of public safety at the department told The News that conditions for juveniles and staff were unsafe and the agency was not doing enough to prevent sexual assaults against children at state facilities.