Staff sent to Ohio youth prisons after sex-assault report

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Prompted by a federal report on sexual assaults of incarcerated young people, Ohio is sending employees to its four juvenile corrections facilities to talk with youth and reiterate their options for reporting assaults and other concerns.

Incarcerated young people responded anonymously to survey questions about unwanted sexual activity involving other inmates and facility employees, and the U.S. Justice Department report put Ohio among states with the highest sexual-assault rates, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

The so-called “climate assessors” being sent to the facilities will report to a task force created by Gov. John Kasich after the federal report. The move comes months after a federal judge ended most court-ordered monitoring of Ohio’s youth prison system that stemmed from an earlier lawsuit settlement.