WASHINGTON (AP) - Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has ordered state officials to investigate claims made by immigrant teens of severe physical abuse at a juvenile detention facility.
Northam announced the probe in a tweet on Thursday, hours after The Associated Press reported on a half-dozen sworn statements from Latino teens held at the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center.
The governor said the allegations are disturbing and ordered the state's secretary of public safety and homeland security to report back to him about conditions inside the facility.
Virginia Senators
Meanwhile, Virginia's two Democratic senators are seeking answers from federal authorities about oversight of a juvenile detention.
Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine sent a letter Friday to the head of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement with a list of questions about the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center.
The senators are asking whether regulators received any past complaints involving the facility located near Staunton, Virginia.
Officials at the refugee resettlement office have refused to provide comment this week on when they first learned of the abuse allegations and whether any action was taken.
Allegations
The Associated Press reported Thursday that six Latino teens had made sworn statements detailing severe abuse they say they endured between 2015 and 2018.
Youths as young as 14 say they were beaten while handcuffed and locked up for long periods in solitary confinement, left nude and shivering in concrete cells. Detainees also say the guards stripped them of their clothes and strapped them to chairs with bags placed over their heads.
The center's lawyers deny all abuse allegations.
