PERRY COUNTY, Ohio — The Perry County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident that allegedly occurred at the Perry Multi-County Juvenile Facility last month. The sheriff’s office is investigating claims of sexual misconduct between a now-former employee and a juvenile.
The mother of the juvenile said she continues to reach out to the sheriff’s office for more information, but she isn’t getting any answers.
"How could this happen?" the mother said.
The mother said on Dec. 17, she received a call from the Karen Brown, the interim director of the Perry Multi-County Juvenile Facility, that her 16-year-old son was involved in an incident with a staff member while at the facility the day prior.
"I got a phone call on Sunday afternoon around 1:15 p.m. from the interim director stating that my son has been involved in a sexual assault,” the mother said.
A couple hours later the mother said she received another call from the Perry County Sheriff’s Office with the same information.
"I didn't know what to expect. I thought the worst. I didn't know if it was a male or female. They weren't able to give me any answers,” the mother said.
Brown released the following statement:
"I was notified on 12/17 of an allegation of staff misconduct from 12/16. The staff involved in the allegation abandoned her post and was immediately terminated. The investigation was turned over to the Perry County Sheriff's Department. We have no further comment at this time. This is an ongoing investigation."
The mother said her son has been at the facility since early July for a charge relating to receiving stolen property of a motor vehicle. She says she’s tried asking her son about the incident, but he hasn’t told her much.
"You don't really have privacy to speak with your child, so they're really not going to tell you anything with someone standing over your shoulder listening to what you say,” the mother said.
A few days after the incident allegedly occurred, the mother said her son was transferred to a different facility.
Now, she said she’s working on hiring an attorney after getting no new information despite repeated calls to the sheriff's office.
10TV reached out to the Perry County Sheriff’s Office for more information, and they provided two documents with limited information, stating more could not be released due to it being an active and ongoing investigation.
"You don't expect stuff like this to happen to any child in any facility,” the mother said.
The mother added that her son was released from the facility he was transferred to on Tuesday. She is still working to get answers on what exactly happened.