An 8-year-old girl was stripped naked and searched by Virginia Department of Corrections staff after she was led to believe refusal would result in not being allowed to see her father.
State policy allows for such searches at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, about 60 miles west of Richmond, and other state DOC prisons. The girl was accompanied by her father’s girlfriend, who is not her legal guardian. If they refused to be searched, they could have been banned from the prison.
“That’s outrageous," said Daniel Macallair, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. “It’s generally regarded in the criminal justice field that you do not strip search young children. ... I mean most adults, certainly most adults who work in the field of child welfare would know better, that this is an act of child abuse."
After being contacted Thursday by The Virginian-Pilot with questions about the incident, DOC Director of Communications Lisa Kinney said the department was just made aware of what happened and that the staff member who approved the search didn’t have that authority.
“It is deeply troubling and represents a breach in our protocol. We sincerely apologize to this child and her family and will be taking immediate disciplinary action against the person responsible,” Kinney wrote in an email...........https://www.pilotonline.com/government/virginia/vp-nw-strip-search-20191206-wd2ejtrtqfgbvkbj7xzh7btemu-story.html
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