Two teenagers were left in a courthouse holding cell in Douglas County, Georgia, over the weekend without food, lights or toilet paper, WSB-TV Atlanta 2 reports.
Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller said there was no excuse for the conditions his officers left the teens in over the weekend.
“It’s obvious we need to make some changes at the courthouse, to make sure procedures are followed (and) this doesn’t happen again,” Miller said. “I’m embarrassed today as I can possibly be.”
The teens, aged 16 and 17, had court appearances on Friday; however, neither suspect’s parents showed up for court. The boys were then supposed to be transported back to the youth detention center where they were being held until their trial.
Instead, the teens were left in a holding cell in the courthouse all weekend and weren’t discovered until Monday morning.
“Nobody that works in security is supposed to leave that building at night without checking the cells, and it’s not a hard job to do,” Miller said.
He said that there were eight to ten officers involved in the incident, and some of them may lose their jobs once an internal investigation is completed.