The front of Daybreak Youth Services in Brush Prairie following the service of six search warrants looking into possible sexual misconduct at the youth treatment center in September.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office served six search warrants at Daybreak Youth Services in Brush Prairie Sept. 11 as part of a sexual misconduct investigation at the youth substance abuse and mental health facility. The investigation began in June.
Specifically, the investigation is looking into allegations of unlawful sexual contact between youth clients and between a staff member and a youth client as well as allegations that Daybreak failed to report criminal sexual conduct.
The warrants allow the sheriff’s office, under judicial authority, to search for evidence including, among other things, written documents, video footage, and computer records, which includes emails.
Warrants are also being served to Microsoft and Qualifacts Systems, requesting they preserve relevant records stored on their servers.
The sheriff’s office notified the Washington State Department of Health on June 7 about the allegations. The Department of Health, which has licensing authority over Daybreak, is also conducting its own investigation.
In a June letter to the Department of Health, Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins wrote that his department has responded to numerous calls at the facility in the past several months including ones for runaways, physical altercations and sexual assaults. The frequency of calls led the department to specifically track responses to Daybreak.
The letter states concerns for the safety of staff and youth at Daybreak. Atkins also indicates a reluctance by staff “either on their own initiative or by direction from management” to report crimes at the facility. Atkins specifically mentions a May 28 incident where one deputy responding to a call of a disturbance noted that multiple staff members “said they lose control of the facility all of the time and are told not to call 911.”
The 911 call for that incident did not come from a staff member according to that deputy’s statement, “even after losing total control of the youth inside.”
Atkins’ letter goes on to say that Clark County Juvenile Court has concerns over the facility and would no longer place youth there.
Probable cause affidavits submitted in support of the warrants show that the investigation began when sheriff’s Sergeant Chris Luque was assigned to investigate a June 12 incident when a resident was allegedly sexually assaulted while asleep.
Through the investigation Luque learned that although there was a witness and video surveillance to corroborate the allegations, the incident was not reported to law enforcement as required by law.
While looking into that incident the sheriff’s office learned of similar cases not reported due to Daybreak’s administration ordering staff not to call 911.
About a month after responding to a physical altercation at Daybreak, Luque was told by one staff member he had “no idea how bad it really is,” according to the affidavits. The employee declined to elaborate in fear of losing their job, though the individual did provide names of current and former staff who might be willing to talk.
The affidavits mentioned several other incidents including an assault with a pair of tweezers, several sexual assaults and an attempted suicide that former employees told the sheriff’s office about.
When investigating a separate sexual assault, a sheriff’s deputy was told by facility administration that they would not provide video surveillance without a warrant, the affidavits states. One affidavit noted this as not necessarily related to the other cases, but set an example of the lengths the sheriff’s office would need to take in order to look into cases at the facility.
Daybreak Youth Services is cooperating with the investigation, releasing a statement the day after the warrants were served.
“We reached out to representatives of the Sheriff’s office today and will continue to work with the department regarding all allegations,” Daybreak Youth Services Board President Carl Griffin stated in the Sept. 12 release. “At this point, we have received no further information from the Sheriff’s Department, so, at the advice of our attorney, we can provide no further comment on the investigation.”
The sheriff’s office asked any current or former employees of Daybreak Youth Services who may have information relevant to our investigation to contact the sheriff’s Sergeant Chris Luque at 360-397-2211 ext. 5626 or email at Chris.Luque@clark.wa.gov. Current or former clients, and parents or guardians of current or former clients, contact investigators if they have information which may be relevant to this investigation.
