Baltimore County Officials Respond To Accusations Of Mistreated Youth At Detention Center

BALTIMORE COUNTY - Baltimore County Leaders announced that they are investigating the conditions at the county detention center after the Maryland Office of the Public Defender released a letter decrying the treatment of juveniles last week.

Deborah St. Jean, director of the public defender’s Juvenile Protection Division, said in her letter that youths charged as adults and held at the Baltimore County Detention Center in Towson face harrowing conditions.

The letter alleges that youths are subjected to rodent-infested cells, frequent flooding of contaminated toilet water, and juveniles being locked in the cells for up to 23 hours a day.

The county replied to the Juvenile Protection Division’s letter on Thursday, saying that they share concerns but that “in many cases, conditions were not found to be as described in your letter.”

The county promised to “carefully investigate” the claims presented in the letter and that the investigation should be completed within the next month.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski has also said he will visit the jail in the coming days.