Batesville, AR – A juvenile detention center that has known problems in the past is taking another hit. This time, a guard is arrested for sexually abusing a teenager. 
On Friday, the 17-year-old told administrators at the detention center about sexual activity that allegedly happened at the facility. According to the Independence County Judge, the guard who has already been arrested and charged, had only worked there for less than 30 days. 

Bradley Hopper, 27, was arrested for sexual assault Friday while wearing his White River Juvenile Detention Center guard uniform. 

According to an affidavit, he engaged in sexual activity two separate times with a 17-year-old inmate.  

“You have an anomaly like this that comes in, it’s atrocious, it’s inexcusable, and as I said, it’s embarrassing,” Independence County Judge Robert Griffin said. 

Griffin says this arrest comes days after the facility got back into compliance with DHS standards. In an investigation earlier this year, DHS found things Griffin was shocked to see. 

“We found some deficiencies and things that we needed to do so we had been moving forward complying and doing the training,” Griffin said. 

Amy Webb, a spokesperson with DHS says in the investigation it shows youth were handcuffed for minor issues, among other things. 

She says after the facility was found not following guidelines, DHS stop sending inmates under its care permanently to the location. Inmates, like the 17-year-old victim, were there only temporarily. 

“We were waiting for a placement for him to get him out of that facility,” Webb said. 

As far as cleaning up the center, Griffin says sweeping policy changes are to come

“We are going to revisit our background checks and current employees,” Griffin said. 

Griffin says they do background checks, psychological testing, and a child maltreatment investigation into each new employee. As for Hopper, nothing was flagged that he was dangerous to children or teens. 

Once the 17-year-old came forward with the allegations it only took investigators eight hours to arrest and charge Hopper.