Sask. government says open custody likely to remain a feature of Kilburn Hall

The government is going to review how a teen serving an open custody sentence at Kilburn Hall in Saskatoon walked away from the centre and then was charged with second-degree murder.

But Drew Wilby, who speaks for Corrections and Policing at the Ministry of Justice, said it's unlikely Kilburn would be changed back to a completely secure facility.

The 16-year-old could have escaped from any opencustody setting, he said.

"I don't think it's dependent on the facility itself," he said.

The review will consider what exactly happened in the early morning hours when the teen escaped plus her previous history and background.

"And, potentially having a discussion with the courts, with the prosecution, just to have a fuller understanding of open custody," he said.

The teen is accused of second-degree murder in the death of a six-week-old baby boy.She had escaped from the city's Kilburn Hall Youth Centreat 12:45 a.m. CST Saturday, according to the provincial government, where she had been serving a previous sentence.

The baby was found injured in the 200 block of Waterloo Crescent around 7 a.m. Sunday.Police laid a second-degree murder charge against a 16-year-old girl on Sunday evening.

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The accused was invited into the baby'sfamily's home, says the boy's grandfather, after family members met the girl in downtown Saskatoon.

The grandfather told reporters outside court on Tuesday that his family did not know the accused killer, and his daughters had just met her downtown over the weekend.

How open custody works

A judge sentencing a youth to open custody is striking a balance between keeping them locked up around the clock, or having them serve their sentenced in the community.

Typically, a youth in open custody is allowed out during set hours to go to schoolor work. Then they return to the centre in the evening.

There are four centres in the province that offer youth open custody, at Prince Albert, North Battleford, Saskatoon and Regina.

Kilburn Hall can accommodate five maleand five female youth.

Staff trained to convince youth not to leave

The tricky part with open custody is what happens when a youth attempts to leave.

Unlike a conventional jail, Wilby said staff will not physically intervene should they catch someone trying to get away.

"Our staff are well trained in negotiating with individuals, convincing them to not leave," he said.

"In terms of physically altercating, or getting into a physical altercation with an individual, that's not likely to happen."

In this case, the teen walked out through an alarmed door and then out a back gate. Staff did not have a chance to speak with her.

They called police within minutes.

This is the ninth escape from open custody at Kilburn Hall this year. The facility opened its open custody units in April2015.