Staffers at KY facility for at-risk teenage boys charged with assaulting residents
Three staffers at a Kentucky facility for at-risk teen boys have been charged with assaulting residents, Kentucky State Police said in a news release issued Friday.
The Clinton County Hospital notified police March 29 that a boy had been brought in with injuries sustained at Foothills Academy in Albany, according to the release.
Trooper Jason Warriner arrested three Foothills employees on March 31.
Gabriel Martin, 18, of Albany is charged with two counts of fourth-degree assault, while Cecil Nevels, 24, of Monticello, is charged with two counts of fourth-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault. Chris Dunagan, 20, of Monticello is charged with one count of fourth-degree assault, according to the release.
Warriner said in criminal complaints filed at the Clinton County Jail that the charges against Nevels and Martin arose from assaults on two different Foothills Academy residents.
Nevels allegedly ran and “blindside tackled” one teen from behind, knocking him to the ground. The boy suffered a broken collarbone and required medical treatment, the complaint said.
Nevels tackled another Foothills Academy resident “for no legitimate reason,” then hit him several times while he was on the ground, Warriner said in a complaint.
Martin allegedly grabbed one of the teens by the neck and “slung” him to the ground, and also laid on top of the boy with the broken collarbone after Nevels tackled him.
The criminal complaint against Dunagan was not available.
Former District Judge Jeff Choate, who started Foothills Academy and is president, said the three employees charged with assault had been trained in how to properly handle physical encounters and had no history of problems.
Foothills Academy quickly fired the three and reported the incident to the state Department for Community Based Services and the Office of Inspector General, Choate said.
“This is not what we stand for,” Choate said of the assaults. “There’s never an excuse to harm a child.”
Choate said it was the first time since the academy opened 18 years ago that a staffer had been charged with hurting a resident.
Nevels’ attorney, Jeremy A. Bartley, said that when the incident happened on March 29, Nevels was trying to de-escalate a confrontation between residents and keep them from hurting each other.
“He didn’t intend to cause any harm to anyone,” Bartley said.
Bartley said Nevels, who is not much older than the teens he is accused of assaulting, had been chosen employee of the month several times.
Foothills Academy is licensed to accept up to 72 boys ages 13 to 18. Residents at the facility have been placed there by the state after being removed from their homes because of problems such as abuse and neglect.
Foothills provides services that include education, counseling and substance abuse treatment. The aim is to encourage and promote changes in values and behavior, according to the facility.
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 4:19 PM.
