Three correctional officers and one supervisor from the Wyatt Detention Facility are now on paid leave following the escape of prisoner James Morales. The private prison is conducting an investigation into the New Year’s Eve incident.
Wyatt’s Board of Directors held an emergency meeting Thursday in Central Falls. Before entering a closed executive session, Chairman Luke Gallant made a public statement. He offered few details, except to say that a full report will be made available to the public.
“We want to know: were the procedures and policies in place on that day, followed without exception,” said Gallant. “If they were, what are the holes and where are the holes that allowed this escape?”
The Wyatt Detention Facility has faced scrutiny in the past for the death of an undocumented immigrant detainee in 2008. The facility went through receivership in 2014.
Gallant says the facility is interviewing staff and inmates who shared a cell block with Morales.
“The community may rest assured that when this investigation is complete, and all the facts are known, anyone and everyone responsible for this escape will be held accountable,” said Gallant.
Prison officials believe Morales escaped after he was left unattended in a recreational area. Regarding the staff members placed on leave, Gallant said the decision should not be read as an indictment.
“But a matter of routine protocol for the warden that he deems appropriate.”
Gallant did not lay blame for the escape on the Warden Daniel Martin.
“I want to state emphatically that this board of directors has full confidence and belief in his leadership, and in the investigation that he is conducting,” said Gallant.
Massachusetts State police arrested escaped inmate James Morales in Somerville Thursday, just outside of Boston.
