Juvenile center staffer arrested

Thomas Steven Gallia was arrested in May and charged with felony child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm, according to his arrest report.

The abuse allegations surfaced after the teen’s foster mother picked him up from the detention center March 30 and learned he had a broken wrist and had received no medical treatment, according to Gallia’s arrest report.

The teen complained to his foster mother that he had been pushed by officers, according to the report.

Gallia told investigators that he confronted the teen because he was hitting a wall in his cell with his fist and was afraid the boy would hurt his hand.

Gallia said the teen had come at him in a threatening manner and he used a defensive tactic called a "hand plant" to protect himself. Gallia said the teen fell backward and hit his left ear on a concrete bench in the cell.

Gallia then handcuffed the teen and left him lying on his stomach on the floor for half an hour, the report stated.

Gallia told investigators he asked the teen whether he was injured and the teen said no.

But witnesses to the incident said the teen was bleeding from the head and his arm was discolored from breaking his own fall after being pushed.

Katie Knox, a child youth technician, told investigators that after Gallia left the cell, the teen was wailing in pain, the report stated. Although the teen was punching a wall when Gallia confronted him, the boy wasn’t doing it hard enough to break his arm, she said.

The teen was having a hard time breathing after Gallia left the cell, so Knox asked another officer to take the handcuffs off the boy.

Knox told investigators that she witnessed the incident, and she said the teen neither lunged at nor was threatening to Gallia.

When the teen’s foster mother, Linda Wells, learned that the boy was injured, detention center staff told her to take the teen to the hospital.

She refused, telling the staff that because they had injured the teen, they should take him for treatment.

Wells told investigators that a detention center officer said he would add charges of assaulting an officer against the teen if they were forced to take care of the teen’s injuries, the report stated.

Wells insisted the teen be taken to University Medical Center.

The teen was originally brought to the detention center after he was picked up by the Metropolitan Police Department’s gang unit for throwing rocks and orange plastic barricade barrels at passing cars.

The teen was described by the detention center staff as being mildly retarded, with pervasive developmental disorder, an aggressive and destructive personality, along with a blood clotting disorder called Von Wilderbrand disease.

Gallia has been employed by Clark County for more than 11 years. He’s been a supervisor at the detention center for less than a year, said Clark County spokeswoman Jennifer Knight.

Gallia is currently on paid administrative leave, she said.

Cherie Townsend, director of Juvenile Justice Services, which oversees the detention center, said an independent investigator will be hired to look into the incident to make sure administrative policies and procedures were followed.

"The plan is to complete the investigation within 30 days," she said. When the investigation is complete, officials will determine what action, if any, to take against Gallia.

"This is a very unfortunate incident that occurred, and we hope to get to the bottom of it," Townsend said.