LIMA — A prosecutor expressed frustration Wednesday over the juvenile parole system he said does little to hold violent criminals accountable.
“If we are not going to violate people when on GPS or supervision there is no purpose having parole officers, whatsoever. We are just wasting money,” said Allen County Prosecutor Juergen Waldick.
Waldick’s statements came after a parole officer with the Ohio Department of Youth Services and two supervisors with that agency testified about numerous times Jaiquavius Carter, now 19, was given numerous chances to stay out of trouble only to have blown almost every opportunity.
On top of that, Carter was out of prison, released early, for shooting a firearm at two people, Waldick said.
While out on parole, Carter was supposed to be on house electronic arrest but did not charge the battery to keep his monitor active. He also drove a car without a license and was not allowed to leave his house. He was arrested for drunken driving, had marijuana in his car and crack cocaine, Waldick said.
“The only thing he has done is violate the law,” Waldick said.
Carter admitted to committing some of the crimes and not properly handling his monitor but said he was home some of the time the monitor said he was away.
Parole Officer Deb Parker said she still would recommend electronic monitoring today over prison. She and two supervisors, including Nate Lawson, the regional administrator of the Toledo office for DYS, said there are progressive steps in place to try to get a criminal to comply instead of sending the person back to prison.
Those steps range from treatment, programming and verbal sanctions, Lawson said.
“The steps we go through, the programs we have in place are a supportive step to try to reduce revocation” of parole, Lawson said.
Waldick asked Lawson how many violations or what level of violations it would take to send a person back to prison. Lawson said there is no set number.
“I want to make sure we have done everything on our end to not have him back,” Lawson said.
Lawson also said there is another alternative to prison, the Central Ohio Youth Center in Marysville, which a criminal is sentenced to for 90 days to undergo counseling and behavioral modification programming.
A big part of the reason juvenile offenders are not immediately sent to prison is limited room and downsizing at the state prison system for children, they said.
Judge Glenn Derryberry of Juvenile Court said the case is about Carter and his numerous violations, not how well the Department of Youth Services monitors offenders on parole. Derryberry said his greatest concern is protecting the public.
Derryberry sentenced Carter to the Central Ohio Youth Center rather than prison where there was a good chance he would be released after 90 days, anyway.
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