Rexburg Youth Center Probe Ordered By Batt Two Employees On Leave Pending Inquiry Into Unethical Behavior

Gov. Phil Batt said Friday that he has ordered a full-scale investigation into possible unethical or criminal behavior involving two Department of Juvenile Corrections employees at a Rexburg youth facility.

Both men were placed on administrative leave by Department Director Michael Johnson on Friday pending the outcome of that inquiry.

The state also withdrew its decision to terminate the contract with the Rexburg center at the end of this month, Batt spokesman Frank Lockwood said. A compromise was being worked out, Lockwood said.

The governor told state Law Enforcement Director Robert Sobba in a letter dated Thursday to “take appropriate steps to ensure that a rapid and thorough inquiry is made” at the Youth and Family Renewal Center.

Fremont County Magistrate Keith Walker on Wednesday reportedly barred Roger Clark, regional liaison for Juvenile Corrections in eastern Idaho, from contacting with youths at the Rexburg center that contracts with the state agency. Batt spoke with Walker by telephone Wednesday afternoon.

The same day, eastern Idaho newspapers reported allegations from employees at Rexburg’s Youth and Family Renewal Center that Clark interfered in juvenile cases and Ken Benfield, the other man placed on administrative leave, sexually harassed workers prior to resigning under a cloud four months ago. He then got another job at the department’s facility in St. Anthony.

Those problems, employees allege, led to the state’s decision to cancel its contract with Ashton Memorial Inc., the private company that operates the Rexburg center.

Juvenile Corrections originally said the center’s department contract was being canceled because there was no longer a need for its juvenile beds since space had opened at the 120-bed Youth Corrections Center 13 miles away in St. Anthony.

Had the cancellation stood, the Rexburg center, opened last January, would likely have closed.

Carol Olsen, a therapist at the Rexburg center, said Clark pushed for Ashton Memorial’s contract with the state to be canceled because employees complained about his alleged interference in juvenile cases and threats to use his clout with Johnson to get employees fired.

Clark denies using his liaison position to intimidate employees.

Benfield resigned in September after learning he was the subject of a sexual harassment investigation. The probe was based on allegations from four female employees at the Rexburg center.