Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond looking into solitary confinement of teen refugee

B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth says she will be looking into the case of a 17-year-old who was allegedly held in solitary confinement for four months.

The teen who was in custody at the Burnaby Youth Detention Centre is now suing the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says she's never heard of a youth held in isolation for that long.

• B.C. Children's Ministry sued by refugee over alleged solitary confinement
• Read the full Notice of Civil Claim

"First of all, the use of isolation on this youth was not reported to my office which is a concern," she told CBC News Thursday.

She said her staff will be visiting the detention centre, the main custody centre for youth in B.C.,whereshe saysyoung and naive teens often find themselves housed with more hardened gang-affiliated youth.

"I've seen a spike in aggression and conflict at the custody centre given how youth justice has been reorganized," she said.

Lawsuit filed

Referred to only as K.C., the youth's civil claim alleges the ministry is responsible for him having to enduresolitary confinement for four months.

He was originally separated from the population for 72 hours after he assaulted a staff worker but, when that time expired, K.C. was moved back to a regular shared unit that had been cleared of other inmates, leaving him, once again, alone.

The documents say he was served meals by a staff member who would only enter and place the meal tray on a table when he had been remotely locked inside his cell.

K.C. was living in New Westminster, B.C., but the documents say he has been imprisoned since October 2014 on allegations of murder and attempted murder.

He alleges he was confined between Nov. 4, 2014 and March 17, 2015, when he was 17 years old.

The Ministry of Children and Family Development would not comment on the lawsuit while it is before the courts, but did say, on very rare occasions, separate confinement arrangements are made to ensure the safety of other youth and staff at the facility.

Read the lawsuit in full