“They’re Putting Kids’ Lives at Risk”: How Abuse in a Tennessee Businessman’s Juvenile Prisons Remained Under Wraps

Reporting Highlights Locked Down: Interviews with dozens of former staff and youth reveal how Wayne Halfway House failed to report suspected abuse to state officials across youth prisons in Tennessee. A Company’s Mandate: According to several former employees at Wayne Halfway House’s youth prisons, an expectation to keep serious incidents secret came from the top: CEO Jason Crews. Under Investigation: Tennessee said it is investigating the incidents WPLN and ProPublica uncovered at the company’s facilities. These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. The video clip lasted less than two minutes, but Tonya Webb remembers every second as heartbreaking. The grainy surveillance footage, dated June 29, 2024, showed a teenager in an anti-suicide smock bein