Government finds staff misconduct at Walnut Grove among the 'worst that we have seen in any facility anywhere in the nation'

"This is not something that any parent that has gone through this kind of thing would wish on another parent," said Veronica Kincaid.

Kincaid is referring to the time that her son spent within the walls of the immense Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Walnut Grove, Mississippi. The 1,500 bed facility has been operated by the Geo Group, the number two company in the private prison business (after the Corrections Corporation of America), since it took over from the Cornell Companies, which it bought in 2010. Geo, a publically traded company, lists operations in the US, South Africa, Australia, the UK and Canada, where they have recently lobbied the government in search of new opportunities.

Kincaid's son, Craig, was incarcerated at Walnut Grove from the age of 17 until his 22nd birthday last year, when he was moved to a state-run facility. He is one of the plaintiffs named in a class action lawsuit that was brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU in 2010 on behalf of the inmates of the Walnut Grove facility. The lawsuit, which details a litany of abuses and neglect on the part of private correctional staff hired by Geo, resulted in an agreement with the state of Mississippi in February.

The allegations spelled out in the class action include staff setting up fights between inmates and betting on the outcome, sexual misconduct and punitive medical neglect.

The terms reached under the agreement means that youths 17 and younger will no longer be housed in the Geo prison.

But now a two-year department of justice investigation into conditions at Walnut Grove that concluded in March has found that staff "often use excessive force as a first response, not as a last resort". The report also characterized sexual misconduct by staff as the "worst that we have seen in any facility anywhere in the nation" and suggested that abuses at Walnut Grove are "ongoing" and place inmates at substantial risk.

In a dramatic development Geo, who in addition to Walnut Grove operate two other private prisons in Mississippi, announced that they would be shutting down all of their operations in the state by July. Company officials declined repeated requests to be interviewed.

"We felt that it was critically important to get kids out of the grasp of Geo," said Sheila Bedi, senior litigator for the Southern Poverty Law Center and lead council for the current and former inmates included in the class action.

Bedi credits the Geo Group with creating the conditions that led to the abuses by repeatedly lobbying the state legislature to increase the number of beds at Walnut Grove. "Geo is getting paid per youth per day. So, more beds equal more money," she said.

At around the same time that the Walnut Grove facility was going online the state of Mississippi was changing its laws making it easier to try children as adults, according to Bedi.

Craig Kincaid's allegations involve medical neglect at the hands of Walnut Grove staff.

"I know my child did something wrong, and I accept that he has to be punished for what he did, but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and let you mistreat my child. That's not right," said Veronica Kincaid.

"Before my son went to Walnut Grove there wasn't nothing wrong with him, his leg had healed fine (he was hit by a car when he was 13 and has two pins holding his leg together above his right knee, according to Kincaid).

"After going to Walnut Grove he was denied medical care on several occasions."

Eventually Craig Kincaid would require two surgeries after developing infections in his legs while at Walnut Grove. He is currently on antibiotics.

When her health permits, Kincaid, who also has a daughter and a teenage grandson, still attends the "Friends and Family of Youth Incarcerated at Walnut Grove" group meetings. (She recently got a motorized wheelchair to get around.) Kincaid likes to stay involved in the issues that brought the group together and that led to the lawsuit.

Kincaid claims also to have witnessed guards beating up an inmate while visiting her son at the private facility. "I'm not talking about what somebody told me – I'm talking about what I saw with my own eyes. Seven men, strong, big burly men beat up one child."

Lack of adequate educational opportunities for the young offenders at the Geo facility was another issue cited in the lawsuit. "I don't see them trying to reform these kids by giving them education. My son was in another facility when he got his GED," asserted Kincaid. "And he has yet to accumulate his time, you know, for every month he spends they're supposed to give him time off his sentence – I know they weren't doing it in Walnut Grove," said Kincaid.

"The thing about this industry is that it's the only one I can think of that the worse job they do the more money they make," says Bedi. "The worse they do at rehabilitating people, the more crime there is, and the higher the profits are."

Under the terms of the agreement reached between the state of Mississippi and the plaintiffs the federal courts can step in and take charge of the situation at Walnut Grove if the state fails to comply. It remains unclear what will happen in light of the department of justice findings and Geo's sudden announcement to close up shop. "We recognize that it doesn't resolve the underlying issue that there's still a for-profit incentive to imprison young men in Mississippi, and that's something we're very concerned with," said Bedi.

Kincaid has straightforward advice when told that Geo had registered to lobby in Canada: "Don't let them. Do whatever you have to do to not let them put up a place in Canada. Don't even let them."

"Lawmakers that are really concerned about public safety would tell private prisons to go elsewhere," said Bedi.