Four teens escape state youth lockup, still at large

Fled unit facing scrutiny over breakouts

Four teenagers escaped from an Arkansas youth prison by climbing a fence Thursday, leading to an overnight search that continued through Friday.

The Sebastian County sheriff's office said the teens fled from the state-run Mansfield Juvenile Treatment Center just after 6 p.m. Thursday. Callers said they saw the teens near the facility by Arkansas 378 that night.

Capt. Philip Pevehouse, spokesman for the sheriff's office, said the teens had still not been located as of Friday evening.

Pevehouse said the teens were between the ages of 14 and 16.

Scott County officials reported a stolen vehicle near Mansfield on Friday morning, and the sheriff's office received reports of another vehicle having its doors kicked open in Abbot. Authorities aren't sure if they're connected to the escape.

The treatment center is currently under the purview of the Arkansas Department of Human Services' Division of Youth Services, which identified Texarkana resident Cameron Villa, 16, as one of the teens who walked away Thursday.

Department spokesman Marci Manley said in a press release Friday that Arkansas law requires the agency to notify the public if an escaped youth could have been charged as an adult. Villa was charged in a felony offense, Manley said, though the release did not specify the nature of the offense.

"The way they got out, according to our report, is they just climbed the fence," Pevehouse said. "This is the fourth or fifth escape in the last several months, and it's become problematic."

The Mansfield juvenile lockup has been under heavy scrutiny after multiple recent inmate escape attempts, fights and allegations of staff mistreating inmates.

It's one of five state-operated youth treatment centers that are to be turned over to private management this summer after Gov. Asa Hutchinson resolved a controversy over bid qualifications last week.

Youth Opportunity Investments LLC of Carmel, Ind., has been awarded a one-year, $15.8 million contract to manage youth prisons in Mansfield, Dermott, Harrisburg and Lewisville.

The facilities house children who have been adjudicated delinquent and committed by a judge to the custody of the Youth Services Division.

Having a single provider oversee all the lockups is part of the governor's planned overhaul of the state's juvenile justice system.

Metro on 05/25/2019

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