We've learned that police are investigating an incident in which two 12-year-old girls were allegedly raped after escaping from the Home of the Innocents.
Four boys who lived at the home allegedly escaped with them and now three of them have been charged with sex crimes.
It's the kind of incident employees of the home work non-stop to prevent.
Authorities say on the evening of October 20th, six children escaped from the home. By the time police found them, the girls reported having sex with three of the boys.
The boys are now facing rape and sodomy charges.
The Home of the Innocents has long been a safe haven for children from the neglect and abuse of the outside world.
But it was other residents of the group home who police say victimized two 12-year-old girls who are too young to give consent to have sex.
“We've been here six years and we've never had an incident of this magnitude,” said Home of the Innocents President Gordon Brown.
According to the staff, the boys and girls came from two different cottages. In both cases, they simply opened the back door and walked out. The only warning was a small chime.
“We have doors from the children's cottages that they can exit from inside because they immediately need to burst out the door in case of fire,” said Brown. “That makes it a little bit difficult to manage when a child has made up their mind they're gonna run away.”
Once outside the cottages, authorities say the children scaled an 8 ft. fence and escaped.
They later are believed to have returned to the 8-acre campus, where police say three of the boys, who were between 14 and 17, engaged in intercourse and sodomized the two girls .
The acts are believed to have occurred unseen by staff under the cover of night near the playground.
Even though the girls told investigators the acts were consensual, in Kentucky, you cannot consent to sex if you are under the age of 16.
“There are some extraordinary levels of counseling going on with the girls. and they're still in our care,” said Brown.
All four boys have been removed from the home. Police say three have been charged with felony sex crimes.
Changes are already underway on the home's campus.
“We're enhancing the lighting of our playground as a result of this. and we're looking at the doors to see if we can tighten up the way the doors operate,” said Brown.
The incident has been reported to state agencies which are also investigating. Home of the Innocents President Gordon Brown tells us that no staff members are believed to be at fault in any way.
He says that the home is not a lock down facility and strives to be as homelike as possible for residents.
