Jail for youth not safe, report says

Diana Zlomislic Staff Reporter

Ontario’s newest superjail for youth is not safe for its teenage inmates, a report by the province’s children and youth advocate says.

“It doesn’t feel safe and it isn’t safe,” Irwin Elman told the Star Tuesday.

The Roy McMurtry Youth Centre opened in Brampton last summer with the promise to provide programs that would help turn troubled youths into “future taxpayers.”

But complaints of violence, abuse and neglect have risen dramatically in the past eight months.

In new allegations outlined in Elman’s report, to be released Wednesday, youth describe being brutalized by guards and ignored by nurses at the 192-bed facility.

In one case, a staff member reportedly grabbed a youth by the hair to prevent a call to the advocate’s office.

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UPDATE: Premier promises action on youth superjail