Attack of guard blamed on overcrowding, judge, less funding

LAS VEGAS - Less than a week after a judge declined to send a teen-ager to adult court for assaulting a female probation officer and escaping a juvenile jail, another inmate in the same facility tried to pull a similar stunt.

Though probation officer Freddie Little only received a minor injury when he was attacked June 18 by a 16-year-old, personnel in the county's Department of Family and Youth Services say the incident is indicative of a new belief among the young offenders kept at Clark County Juvenile Detention Center: Beat up a guard during an escape attempt and you'll only be slapped on the wrist if you're caught.

''I shouldn't have to worry about my staff being attacked,'' said Al Crosby, the detention center's manager.

Crosby said the 16-year-old got Little to open his cell door by asking for a change of sheets. The boy then lunged at Little with a makeshift knife.

Though he was disarmed before he could use the wooden shiv, the teen did bite Little in the chest before he was placed back in his cell. The probation officer was treated and released at a local hospital, Crosby said.

The man some blame for the most recent attack is Family Court Judge Robert Gaston, whose critics accuse of going too easy on violent teens by not transferring them to adult court and the Clark County Detention Center.

Juveniles accused of murder and attempted murder are automatically sent to adult court. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds with previous juvenile convictions who are accused of sexual assault or a firearm-related charge are also sent to the adult system. For all other serious charges, Gaston is the lone magistrate who decides which Clark County youths will or will not be tried as adults.

District attorney's office records requested by the Las Vegas Review-Journal show that in the first six months of this year, Gaston dramatically decreased the number of juveniles he sent to adult criminal court in comparison to the same period last year.

During all of 1999, Gaston certified 15 juveniles as adults; he has certified one-third as many so far this year.

Between Jan. 1 and June 23, he denied nine requests from the district attorney's office to move juveniles into adult court; during all of 1999, he denied six.

Gaston did not return several phone calls to his office Friday, but in an eight-page letter to the Review-Journal dated June 21, Gaston voiced his opposition to Nevada's ''get tough'' policy regarding juvenile crime.

''My belief is that these laws which require the transfer of children to the adult prisons have resulted in training juveniles to be lifetime criminals and have caused a continued and more serious burden in our communities,'' the letter said.

The June 18 incident occurred just four days after Gaston denied a deputy district attorney's efforts to have Robert Kennedy, 15, certified as an adult and moved to the Clark County Detention Center.

Kennedy was accused in March of beating probation officer Theresa Daka until she was unconscious, locking her in his cell, fleeing the jail with another youth and then embarking on a six-day spree of auto theft and burglary before being caught.

Daka sustained nerve damage and a broken cheekbone, which required facial reconstructive surgery.

On Tuesday, Kennedy pleaded guilty to escape, causing serious bodily injury, battery, first-degree kidnapping, robbery, three counts of automotive grand larceny, burglary and grand larceny.

He is being held at the detention center he escaped from until July 19, when he is scheduled to be sentenced to a county or state youth facility.

''Yeah, we're disappointed by what the judge did, but we just have to advocate to court to take a closer look at what's going on,'' Crosby said, referring to Gaston's decision not to transfer Kennedy.

Crosby said his facility makes efficient use of its resources, but inmate violence also could be due to overcrowding and funding restrictions that mandate the hiring of part-time probation officers instead of full-time officers with more training.