The search is on for seven teens who escaped in two separate incidents at the Duval Academy.
Two youth offenders absconded from the recreational field of the Ricker Road facility on Friday. The Department of Juvenile Justice was notified Monday morning that five offenders fled in an unrelated incident. The DJJ says they are in the early phases of interviewing staff and reviewing video surveillance to determine exactly how the escapes occurred.
The escapees have been identified as Landon Hood, Clay County; Anthony Bays, Duval County; Tristen Belanger, Santa Rosa County; James Mobbs, Bay County; D’Wann Watkins, Orange County; Logan Murphy, Walton County; Cole Drake, Orange County.
We’ve requested further information regarding the nature of the crimes committed by these offenders.
The Duval Academy is a non-secure residential treatment program for male offenders between 14- and 18-years-old, according to DJJ. It’s run by Youth Services International, and their website says the facility focuses on individual and group mental health services and substance abuse counseling. Youth offenders committed to this facility are considered non-violent, low- or moderate-risk to public safety, and requiring close supervision. The DJJ says they generally serve two to nine months, but the charges could include felonies that don’t involve firearms and wouldn’t be a life term if it had been committed as an adult.
The DJJ says they are working with YSI on an “immediate corrective action plan”. We’ve reached out to YSI for more information on what went wrong and what’s being done to prevent this from happening again, but have not yet heard back.
Admissions to the Duval Academy have been frozen at this time.
