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Attorney general says it can't investigate academy
Posted on June 24, 2006
By the Associated Press


HELENA - The attorney general's office said it doesn't have the authority to investigate a complaint from a civil rights group over alleged abuses at a now-closed private residential treatment center for teen boys.

However, the Lake County Sheriff's Department is now asking the state Department of Criminal Investigation to look into the case.

The Swan Valley Youth Academy north of Condon closed earlier this year amid allegations that residents were subjected to physical and verbal abuse. The academy had agreed to correct numerous state licensing violations just weeks before shutting down.

Montana Advocacy Program attorney Andree Larose had asked Attorney General Mike McGrath for state assistance in bringing criminal charges against former academy employees. She said local authorities had "expressed reluctance" in the matter.

In a letter to Larose on Thursday, the attorney general's office said it cannot initiate a criminal investigation at the request of private citizens or institutions. Only law enforcement authorities can get the office involved, wrote John Connor, chief criminal counsel for the office.

That appeared to happen with the request by Lake County law enforcement.

"They must recognize that this is potentially a very important, significant case," Larose told KPAX television in Missoula. "Asking for the state's assistance is commendable."

DCI had not seen the request Friday and could not comment.

Health department officials spent about a month investigating the military-style academy late last year. They found 19 licensing violations, and said teens were often degraded and yelled at by staff members, were forced to do excessive exercise and drink large amounts of water during intake, which caused some to vomit. The facility also failed to report a suicide attempt, health department officials said.

It was investigated after Larose, representing a former academy resident, alleged residents were subject to verbal and physical abuse.

Lake County Attorney Bob Long thinks it's good that DCI is being brought in for a more thorough investigation.

On the Net: Department of Justice: http://www.doj.mt.gov; Montana Advocacy Program: http://www.mtadv.org

 

 

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