A number of extremely disturbed children - including young people who have been sexually abused and have no criminal convictions - are being strip-searched in a State detention centre for young offenders, it emerged at the High Court yesterday.
The children have, in most cases, been sent to the remand centre by the courts because there is no alternative accommodation for them. Although most have no criminal convictions, they are being housed with juvenile offenders.
The operation of the strip-searching policy at the centre was disclosed to Mr Justice Kelly yesterday by Ms Mary Ellen Ring, for a 13-year-old disturbed boy, who has been in care since he was eight and has been at the remand centre for some weeks. Ms Ring said while all parties agreed the boy should remain at the centre for a further short period, she and the boy's family were concerned that he was being strip-searched.
Ms Ring said strip-searching was carried out on all the inmates of the centre. In light of the boy's background, there were particular sensitivities involved in such a practice for him, counsel said. He needed counselling due to his background and there were also concerns in relation to his behaviour while at the remand centre.
Strip-searching was not appropriate for a 13-year-old boy with such a background and the boy's family asked that this policy not be applied to him, counsel said. She understood there had been no incident which would have brought about a need for him to be strip-searched.
Ms Iseult O'Malley, for the Minister for Education, said she understood strip-searching was routine policy at the centre and was carried out after visits and mobility trips. She said the inmates were searched because they might be hiding drugs.
Mr Justice Kelly said he understood why the authorities carried out strip-searching of the inmates and he would not make an order which interfered with the policy. If the boy was not strip-searched, there was a danger he could be used to smuggle in contraband and greater difficulties could be created for him.
However, the judge added, he could not think how strip-searching would help this child with the sort of difficulties he had. The boy had considerable problems which required a lot of therapy if he was to have any hope of a normal life. The strip-searching policy underlined the undesirability of the boy remaining at the centre in the long term and made the centre all the more unsuitable for this child. Strip-searching was not likely to be beneficial to his more deep-seated problems.
He said he would continue the boy's detention at the remand centre for a further two weeks and would review the position on June 22nd.
