Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries

Kid Criminals (Part 1) (2015x10)

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In America at any one time there are over 70,000 children behind bars. This extraordinary two-part documentary explores some of the highest-security juvenile prisons in the US and meets the child inmates who have committed shocking crimes. Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility is at the forefront of a new philosophy in juvenile justice that emphasises treatment over punishment. There are currently 150 juveniles in Pendleton serving sentences for crimes which include battery, armed robbery, arson and murder. This episode focuses on C complex: the sex offenders considered the lowest on the pecking order at Pendleton, who are nicknamed 'Chomos' by the other inmates. Garrett Clutter, who's 15, and Tavarius McNair, who's 14, are best friends and roommates at the correctional facility. They are also sex offenders, who have to complete a sex offender's programme before they are eligible to be released. Christopher Hillenberg arrives at Pendleton aged 15.