Sarah Scully, Anchor/Reporter
Did the officers accused of reportedly abusing children with tasing, pepper spraying and solitary confinement at the now closed Madison County Juvenile Detention Center, the JDC, face any consequences?
Madison County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Van Duncan, speaking on behalf of Sheriff “Buddy” Harwood, who oversaw the JDC, said in an Aug. 24 email, “No officers were fired or demoted over that issue. There were no charges filed against any officers. The Sheriff does not have a comment.”
A former Madison JDC corrections officer who worked there during the closure and concurrent Department of Social Services investigation spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
This source said there were 5 male officers investigated, and 4 are still officers employed by the sheriff.
Van Duncan said “No comment” in an Aug. 25 email when asked about the officers.
In the hunt to find out any possible recommended charges by DSS, I started a series of emails Aug. 12 with DSS parent agency, the NC Department of Health and Human Services’ Press Assistant Hannah Jones.
In an Aug. 26 email, Jones said that any charges recommended for those officers in the DSS investigation would actually come from the law enforcement agency and district attorney.
Since the sheriff’s office under Harwood is the same law enforcement agency accused of abuse that could then be responsible for any recommended charges, I asked Jones if there was any protocol on that situation in an Aug. 26 email, but did not receive a response by press time.
I first reached out to District Attorney Seth Banks’s office about possible JDC charges in a July 27 email, and then again in an Aug. 21 email, but have not received any responses by press time.
Both Banks and Harwood are up for re-election Nov. 3.
It’s been nearly two years since the Disability Rights of North Carolina, the DRNC, conducted a surprise inspection into the JDC, with those children reporting the law enforcement officers abusive conditions of tasing, pepper spraying and solitary confinement, including the use of a “detox” cell where they had to urinate and defecate into the cell floor drain.
The local DSS investigation verified the DRNC’s late December 2024 findings and the Department of Public Safety closed the JDC by January 2025, as said in the 2026 DRNC report.
Solitary confinement, defined as 22 hours or more, has been banned in NC for juveniles since 2016. Law enforcement officers are only allowed to use tasers when in “an immediate safety risk,” since a 2016 Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, according to an article from CBS News.
The NC Department of Public Safety Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Communications Director Matt Debnam said in an Aug. 25 email that tasers, pepper spray and a targeted type of pepper spray called capsicum gel aren’t used in state-operated juvenile facilities.
He said, “Use of force is strictly prohibited as a form of punishment or retribution.”
But the Madison JDC was a county-operated facility, not state. Does the DJJDP policies have any bearing on a county-operated facility?
Debnam said, “County-operated facilities are subject to policies and procedures established by the local authorities who operate those facilities.”
I asked Van Duncan for the sheriff office’s JDC policies and procedures in an Aug. 27 email, but have not received a response by press time.
The former Madison JDC corrections officer source did provide me with a juvenile inmate brochure outlining the sheriff’s office policies, as well as an inmate handbook, with a section on discipline. Neither mention using tasing, pepper spraying or solitary confinement for discipline.
The NC State Bureau of Investigation Public Information Director Chad Flowers is preparing an official statement on a juvenile case that I will share with you when received.
I also contacted NC Gov. Josh Stein’s office Aug. 18 to ask if he would comment on the reported juvenile abuse by corrections officers under the sheriff’s command, and if there were any charges forthcoming.
His office has not responded by press time.
To contact Gov. Josh Stein: https://governor.nc.gov/contact/contact-governor-stein
To contact DA Seth Banks:
Phone: (828) 268-6610
Fax: (828) 268-6611
Email: robert.s.banks@nccourts.org
Or email his office at brandi.deyton@nccourts.org.
Special thanks to the amazing journalists Catherine Komp, of nclocal.org, and Sally Kestin, of avlwatchdog.org/.
To see the earlier story: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DLLXq9gWg/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Tasing law changed: https://www.cbs17.com/news/new-taser-restrictions-in-place-for-nc-law-enforcement/
DRNC report cites Madison’s illegal solitary confinement: https://carolinapublicpress.org/75292/illegal-solitary-confinement-found-in-review-of-nc-juvenile-detention/
DPS changes solitary confinement rules due to court case: https://www.law360.com/articles/2482435
Prison system changes for youth solitary confinement: https://www.ncdps.gov/press-release/state-prison-system-announces-end-solitary-confinement-inmates-under-18
Pepper spray bill that didn’t make it into law: https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/House/PDF/H589v1.pdf
