{
  "id": 652696,
  "title": "“They’re Putting Kids’ Lives at Risk”: How Abuse in a Tennessee Businessman’s Juvenile Prisons Remained Under Wraps",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/theyre-putting-kids-lives-at-risk-how-abuse-in-a-tennessee",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-12T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ProPublica",
    "slug": "propublica",
    "url": "https://www.propublica.org/article/wayne-halfway-house-jason-crews-tennessee"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In June 2024, a video surfaced showing a violent attack on a teenager at Middle Tennessee Juvenile Detention Center, overseen by Jason Crews, a Tennessee businessman. The video, which showed teens violently restraining the boy and locking him in a cell, was recorded by a medication supervisor named Tonya Webb. Despite the video's clear violation of state policy, facility leadership failed to report the incident to the state or the boy's family within the required 24-hour period. Webb reported the video to the state's Department of Children's Services (DCS), which also did not receive an incident report on or around the incident's date. Former employees and youth revealed that Wayne Halfway House, the company responsible for running the detention center, often kept such incidents secret and discouraged staff from reporting them to authorities. A former human resources director admitted that decisions about reporting incidents were ultimately made by Jason Crews. Liz Ryan, a former official overseeing juvenile justice programs, stated that Wayne Halfway House demonstrated a pattern of disregarding state and federal laws, placing the lives of the youth at risk. The company denied these allegations and accused the former employees of having a bias against them. The state is now investigating the incidents, but the results will not be made public.",
  "summary": "The post “They’re Putting Kids’ Lives at Risk”: How Abuse in a Tennessee Businessman’s Juvenile Prisons Remained Under Wraps appeared first on ProPublica .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}