NSW: Juvenile inmate get lonely hearts penpals

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-1999
NSW: Juvenile inmate get lonely hearts penpals

By Jane Wardell

SYDNEY, Dec 7 AAP - An inmate at a maximum security juvenile detention centre received
a swag of mail from teenage girls after writing to a popular magazine's lonely hearts
column, it was revealed in NSW parliament today.

The 17-year-old boy at the Kariong Juvenile Detention Centre signed himself "very lonely
from the Central Coast" when he wrote to Girlfriend magazine asking for penpals, Opposition
spokeswoman for juvenile justice Patricia Forsythe said.

Mrs Forsythe said in an "extraordinary breach of security" the boy was able to send
mail without revealing his true status at the detention centre and receive "with no questions
asked" a mailbag containing letters from about 200 teenagers.

"Is it a fact that prior to his release, the detainee distributed some of the letters
to other detainees, some of whom are serving sentences for very serious and violent crimes?"

she asked in parliament.

"What action has been taken to ensure the safety and security of the teenagers who
in good faith wrote to the detainee, unaware that they were writing to a person serving
time in the state's juvenile maximum security centre?"

Juvenile Justice Minister Carmel Tebbutt admitted the boy received a large volume of
correspondence but said it was not handed over until he was released from the centre.

"It is true that a large volume of correspondence to a detainee at Kariong did recently
arrive at the centre's post box," Ms Tebbutt told parliament.

"In accordance with regulations, the correspondence was withheld from the detainee
because such a large volume of correspondence was suspicious.

"... the correspondence was handed over to the detainee on his release from the centre
because I am advised there is no legal right to withhold correspondence from an individual
in those circumstances."

Ms Tebbutt said as far as she was aware, no other detainees had access to the letters either.

She said there was no record of a letter written by the inmate to Girlfriend magazine
in the centre's logbooks which check and record addresses prior to postage.

"I am advised by the department of Juvenile Justice that a check of the mail logged
at Kariong shows no record of a detainee writing to Girlfriend magazine," she said.

"Girlfriend magazine is not an approved magazine for detainees to have access to in
Kariong Juvenile Justice Centre."

AAP jW/sb/cjh/br

KEYWORD: JUVENILE

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