Former Volunteers Of America Employees Charged With Assaulting Teens
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — Eight former staffers of a nonprofit organization contracted to work with troubled teens in state custody have been indicted on charges that they assaulted the teens.
The former employees of Volunteers of America, which was contracted to work with teens in Department of Youth Services care, were to be arraigned Wednesday and Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court.
Prosecutors claim the eight workers routinely singled out boys and hit their bare buttocks with a DYS-issued orange sandal. The practice became known as "orange chicken" and was allegedly use to punish teens who were misbehaving.
The alleged abuse took place at a facility on Boston's Long Island known as Casa Isla that has since been closed.
It housed 14-to-19 year-old boys who were committed to the DYS by the juvenile courts.
The DYS said it started investigating after getting a verbal report of abuse last August.
The agency said in a statement it was "deeply troubled" by the allegations.
Seven of the accused, Jalise Andrade, Hermano Joseph, Silvio Depina, Ainsley Laroche, Raymond Tizarro, Joseph Cintolo, and Jeanty Wilkins, were arraigned Wednesday. The eighth accused worker, Emmanuel Fedna, will be arraigned Thursday.
Stephanie Paauwe, a Volunteers of America representative, released this statement to WBZ-TV:
We are cooperating with authorities in every way we can, including turning over 2,300 hours of security camera footage. Casa Isla had a very strong system in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the young men in our care, and was led by numerous licensed and experienced professionals. Just prior to the time these allegations were made, DYS conducted a regular review of the program including the oversight of residents, safety protocols, monitoring, security cameras and reporting systems and found it to be in full compliance.
It is hard for us to imagine that this could have been occurring given the rigorous oversight by experienced and dedicated caregivers at Casa Isla. But it is our collective duty to find out what happened and we hope that every step will be taken to ascertain the truth in this matter.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports:
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