A violent video shows a fight last year at a juvenile correctional facility in Palm Beach County. The shocking part is you can see guards standing by and watching the fight between inmates.
It's not the first time a fight has been caught on camera.
All of this is giving us our first glimpse into the alleged violence, just as the DJJ is preparing for major changes at the facility.
The video shows a fight between two teenage inmates at the Palm Beach Juvenile Correctional Facility. If you look closely, you can see a guard letting it all happen.
“I mean this is just a year later,” South Florida mom Mary Ables said as she watched this June 2015 fight in shock.
“It was like deja vu all over again,” said Ables, cringing at the undeniable similarities between this video and a video from June 2014.
“Why wasn't something done when it happened to my son,” said Ables. The 2014 fight put Ables' son Rashad in the hospital with broken bones and in need of surgery.
The most infuriating part for Ables was seeing video proof not just once but twice that employees from Youth Services International allowed the fights to happen inside the facility.
Two guards were criminally charged for the 2014 fight.
The DJJ tells us it fired two more guards and suspended others for this most recent fight.
“They’re coming out of this program worse off than when they went in,” said Ables.
Whether it's your kid or not, Ables says you need to care how they are treated because eventually these inmates will go back into society.
“If they are mentally messed up, then it can become your problem, because you never know what they're thinking or what they're going to do,” said Ables.
Ables’ son has been released and the family is now suing Youth Services International.
The DJJ released this statement saying:
“Once we learned of the inappropriate conduct by YSI staff, these employees were immediately removed from the facility and no longer work for the contracted provider. These actions are not acceptable to the department and it is always my expectation that individuals who place youth in harm's way are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” said Secretary Christina Daly.
The DJJ has announced they've selected a new company to run the local facility after YSI decided to end its contract early.
The new company selected to run the local juvenile facility is Sequel TSI, which will take over in April 2016 with a five-year contract.
Once the company takes over, it will then be running four facilities in Florida.
Sequel said it has started the re-application process for the current employees at the facility. However, knowing the issues that have been going on, the company says it will carefully evaluate each employee and position first.
