“They’re Putting Kids’ Lives at Risk”: How Abuse in a Tennessee Businessman’s Juvenile Prisons Remained Under Wraps

Thomas Jarvis, now 20, was attacked twice at juvenile justice facilities overseen by Jason Crews, a Tennessee businessman. In both instances, facility leadership failed to report the incidents to the state as required. Stacy Kranitz for ProPublica The video clip lasted less than two minutes, but Tonya Webb remembers every second as heartbreaking. The grainy surveillance footage, dated June 29, 2024, showed a teenager in an anti-suicide smock being dragged violently by other teens across the floor at Middle Tennessee Juvenile Detention Center. As guards watched, the teens pulled the smock over the boy’s head, exposing his naked body.