Schimel considers reopening Lincoln Hills probe

Madison — After saying last week he was “in the dark” on an investigation into Wisconsin’s juvenile prison, Attorney General Brad Schimel changed course Monday and said his office now may issue charges over alleged inmate abuses.

Schimel’s sharply different tone came a day after a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation reported that state officials missed a series of warning signs coming from Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls, which share a campus 30 miles north of Wausau.

The Republican attorney general headed a criminal investigation into the facility for a year, but turned it over to the FBI in early 2016. He told the Journal Sentinel on Thursday he had not been seeking updates on the investigation and didn’t know its status.

“I’m very much in the dark,” Schimel said last week. “I don’t know what resources they’re putting on this.”

When told the FBI hadn’t visited Lincoln Hills for nearly a year, Schimel said he was surprised to hear that, but wasn’t bothered.

He struck a much different tone Monday, after the Journal Sentinel’s story appeared. In an interview with The Associated Press, Schimel said his agency may “step back in” and re-launch its own investigation.

“We had developed some evidence in our investigation that may lead to some enforcement actions,” Schimel told the AP. “We’ve got that option.”

Schimel was not available for comment Monday.

His spokesman, Johnny Koremenos, said the attorney general has “made no commitments” but has always had the ability to file charges.

U.S. Attorney John Vaudreuil said Monday he has not yet spoken with Schimel. He said their offices have worked collaboratively and he expected that to continue.

“When we’ve needed help, they’ve been there to help us,” Vaudreuil said.

If any charges are brought, they could be brought in state or federal court, depending on what the specific charges are, he said.

The criminal probe, now nearly two years old, is looking into allegations of prisoner abuse, child neglect, sexual assault, intimidation of witnesses and victims, strangulation and tampering with public records. There have been at least four instances in which inmates’ bones have been broken, according to records.

The Journal Sentinel’s report found that the problems at the institution are rooted in systemic breakdowns, lax management, confusion over policies, a lack of communication and chronic staff shortages.

Officials, including Gov. Scott Walker, repeatedly ignored indications of a brewing crisis there. A judge alerted Walker directly about a 2012 incident in which a juvenile inmate who had been beaten and sexually assaulted did not get medical attention for hours, the investigation found.

In another incident, a teen inmate had to have parts of two toes amputated after a guard shoved him into a room and slammed a door on his foot in November 2015.

In a third incident, a guard was investigated for allegedly putting his hand on the neck of a 15-year-old female inmate and pushing her against a wall in October 2015. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department recommended the guard, Scott McKenna, be charged with child abuse and strangulation last year.

The state prosecutor and Schimel both said last week they did not know where federal authorities were with that case.

“I’m not sure what’s happening with the federal investigation,” Schimel said Thursday when asked about the incident involving McKenna. “We’ve maintained that we are available for any kind of assistance they may need, but we really haven’t been asked to do anything other than turn over what we have. I don’t know where they’re at.”

Vaudreuil declined to talk about whether that incident was part of his investigation.

When the state was in charge of the investigation, two agents worked on it, but only part time. Schimel said last week that in hindsight he should have put more agents on it.

“It wasn’t immediately looking like it was as pervasive as it seems now to have been,” Schimel said Thursday of alleged abuses at the prison.

The inmate whose foot was crushed reached a $300,000 settlement with the state this year. Litigation in other instances is expected. The Walker administration has hired the Milwaukee law firm Crivello Carlson to handle claims. So far, the state has paid the law firm $21,000 for its work on such matters.

Republicans who control the Legislature have not weighed in on the situation at Lincoln Hills.

Among those who have failed to respond to requests for comment Monday and earlier are Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau and the co-chairs of the Legislature’s budget committee, Sen. Alberta Darling of River Hills and Rep. John Nygren of Marinette.

Former state Sen. Tim Cullen (D-Janesville) on Monday criticized Walker for never having visited Lincoln Hills in his six years as governor. Cullen is considering running against Walker in 2018.

“His priorities absolutely amaze me,” Cullen said. “He’s got time to go to the Republican Governors Association. He can’t simply go up to the biggest trouble spot of any institution we have? He’s got a plane that could get him there in an hour.”

Walker spokesman Tom Evenson did not directly respond to Cullen’s criticism, but said the governor’s corrections secretary is addressing problems at Lincoln Hills.

“Governor Walker hired Jon Litscher to reform the agency and that’s exactly what he’s done and will continue to do. Jon’s leadership and his reforms are making a positive impact on the agency,” Evenson said in a statement.