Department of Juvenile Justice investigates sexual misconduct caseload | Local & State | Macon.com

The state’s Department of Juvenile Justice held an executive session meeting Thursday in Macon to discuss 19 investigators who have been suspended with pay because they failed to finish internal investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct.

At a meeting of the state board at the Macon Youth Development Center, officials said they have called in the GBI and the state’s Department of Corrections to help close at least 20 investigations of either sexual abuse or sexual harassment involving incarcerated youths, said Jim Shuler, the department’s communications director.

The investigation comes in the wake of a U.S. Department of Justice survey that provided national statistics for sexual misconduct in youth detention facilities. The survey says Georgia has some of the highest sexual abuse rates in the country. The state is one of four with an overall sexual victimization rate exceeding 15 percent, according to the survey.

Officials formed a special advisory committee in early June to compare that report’s statistics to the number of cases that were reported in Georgia each year. The committee found that more than 20 cases were unfinished within the mandatory 45 days allowed by department policy.

In a statement earlier this month, Commissioner Avery D. Niles said the alleged failure of accountability won’t be tolerated.

via Department of Juvenile Justice investigates sexual misconduct caseload | Local & State | Macon.com.