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MANSFIELD, Ark. (AP) – Emails from Arkansas officials show a state employee is under investigation for shackling a 15-year-old housed at a juvenile detention center and leaving the teen restrained overnight.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained emails from caseworkers, the juvenile ombudsman and the teen’s mother that indicate the Arkansas Department of Human Services is reviewing the physical restraint incident that occurred at the Mansfield Juvenile Treatment Center last month.
Aftercare worker Michelle Edgin is assigned to the teen’s case. She wrote an email Monday to his mother, saying that she disagreed with how the boy had been restrained and reported the encounter to authorities.
Arkansas youth advocates have criticized the use of force, and physical restraints in particular, at juvenile detention facilities.
The state Human Services Department and Edgin declined to comment to the newspaper.
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