NASHVILLE — Blade Reed will be one of the youngest teens to ever be convicted as an adult in Indiana if a judge accepts his guilty plea to attempted robbery.

The 14-year-old faces 30 years in prison as part of an agreement he entered into with Brown County Prosecutor Jim Oliver.

Where Reed will serve his time and the rest of his adolescence remains undecided.

Reed also admitted to a juvenile offense of aggravated battery, and the prosecutor and Reed’s attorney, Jim Roberts, want Reed ordered to juvenile prison until he turns 18.

Brown Circuit Court Judge Judith Stewart, who will sentence Reed Nov. 13, said placing Reed in a juvenile facility would be more desirable than sending him adult prison.

However, the judge was unsure whether the Indiana Department of Correction would allow an adult offender into juvenile prison.

“We don’t do it,” said Doug Garrison, spokesman Indiana Department of Correction.

He said DOC has no provisions for placing someone with an adult conviction in juvenile prison, despite the offender’s age.

The adult prison system operates a special section for youths incarcerated as adults that segregates offenders younger than 18 from older inmates.

The unit, located at Wabash Valley Correction Facility near Terre Haute, houses about 50 adult offenders younger than 18 with convictions ranging from theft to robbery and murder.

The juvenile prison, located at Pendleton, houses more than 250 inmates who have been adjudicated of juvenile delinquencies.

Both programs focus on offenders’ education, offering literacy, pre-GED and GED courses, and individualized treatment, such as anger management, is provided as necessary.

Both prisons’ goals focus on rehabilitating offenders and preparing them to re-enter into society.

Rich Larsen, Wabash Valley public information officer, said the average age of youths incarcerated as adult offenders is 16.

Roberts said he hoped Reed, a sixth-grader, could go to juvenile prison because he would be around children closer to his age and because it would provide him better educational opportunities.

“They’re really not equipped to handle sixth-graders,” Roberts said. “They have a GED program, but he’s not ready for that.”

<< Back