On Friday night, November 11, 2022 at approximately 9:40pmCT, Kentucky State Police Post 15 received a call requesting assistance with a riot at the Adair Regional Detention Center, a maximum security juvenile detention center, located in Adair County. The initial call was regarding a juvenile who had assaulted a staff member, confiscated the staff member’s keys and released other juveniles from their cells.
KSP troopers, along with other local law enforcement officers, entered the facility and restored order. Two employees were assaulted and 9 people were taken by EMS to the hospital for treatment.
According to the Adair Community Voice, a 17-year-old female reported that she had been sexually assaulted. That allegation is being investigated by Kentucky State Police. A spokesperson with the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice told the Community Voice that the female who reported the assault was in a “separate, secure wing.” However, sources with first-hand knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Voice that the female was in a block of 10 cells with males occupying other cells.
A custodian at the Youth Development Center was seriously injured and flown out for medical care and a youth worker was reportedly seriously injured and later suffered a stroke. A 13-year-old male juvenile was dragged out of his cell by the ones involved in the riot and severely beaten. The juvenile was taken to T.J. Health Columbia and later transferred to a children’s hospital.
In addition to the criminal investigation led by KSP, the Internal Investigations Branch of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet has opened an investigation.
Another attack occurred at the youth detention center in September at the Columbia facility when two juveniles attacked a guard and another youth.
To read more details about the riot, including info. from whistleblowers at the facility, pick up a copy of this weeks Adair County Community Voice.
