Immigrant children abused at detention center

Common Dreams - Virginia state investigators confirmed that immigrant children who were held at Shenendoah Valley Detention Center were strapped to chairs with bags placed over their heads—but said their treatment did not meet the definition of abuse. (Photo: Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center)

Completing a month-long probe into allegations of abuse at a detention facility in Staunton, Virginia, state investigators confirmed that immigrant children were strapped to chairs with bags placed over their head, as several had alleged—but claimed that this treatment did not meet the definition of abuse.

Several immigrants, some as young as 14, alleged in June that staffers at Shenendoah Valley Juvenile Center (SVJC) had beaten them while they were handcuffed and placed them in solitary confinement for long periods of time. A child development specialist at the facility also told the Associated Press that she saw several children there with broken bones.