Long Creek (Maine) juvenile center’s mental health protocols questioned after suicide
Mental health and juvenile justice experts say the state of Maine had an obligation to continue a regimen of mental health treatment for a transgender teenager after he arrived at Long Creek Youth Development Center.
Charles Maisie Knowles, 16, was incarcerated at the South Portland facility in August on a charge of arson and later hanged himself with a bed sheet after going on and off suicide watch multiple times. His mother, Michelle Knowles, said Long Creek doctors were focusing on her son’s “day to day” issues and denied him more regular, in-depth mental health treatment for weeks following his incarceration until she and an outside doctor intervened.
