State Review Reveals Widespread Misconduct in Juvenile Strip Searches

By Nicole Fierro | KDVR Fox31

DENVER (KDVR) — A review of strip searches at juvenile detention centers in Colorado unveiled more than a thousand policy violations.

Child Protection Ombudsman of Colorado tells FOX31 it has the legal authority to vet children’s complaints in the youth services systems by checking agencies’ documents. A complaint from a child is what initially prompted the review of more than a thousand strip searches where juveniles had to completely undress, according to CPO.

“We have youth that are ages 10 to 21 that we’re talking about,” Stephanie Villafuerte, the Child Protection Ombudsman of Colorado, said. “These are facilities designed to rehabilitate these young people and send them back out into the community where they can be safe and they can also be productive.”

Stephanie Villafuerte, the child protection ombudsman of Colorado, sat down with FOX31 to go over her agency’s review released Tuesday surrounding juvenile strip searches in Colorado Division of Youth Services centers.

“We reviewed essentially for a period of three years, over slightly over 1,000 such search records,” Villafuerte said.

The CPO reviewed a sample of strip searches conducted by Division of Youth Services staff between 2023 and 2025. In the 1,009 searches the agency reviewed, it found staff conducting searches violated policy 1,006 times, with three main violations.

“One was that there was no evidence that an administrator had even approved the search initially,” Villafuerte said. “The second thing that we found is that oftentimes there was one staff member who conducted the search rather than two. And the third piece and probably the most significant, is that there was no basis documented for this search itself. Policy requires that there be reasonable suspicion in order to contact a youth and conduct that search without having that, We have no reason why those youth were searched.”

Villafuerte said the DYS made changes to its policies in 2024, but records documenting what happened in these searches and what prompted them were handwritten and often not complete.

“We see weapons coming in,” Villafuerte said. “We see fentanyl coming in. Even a year ago, we had a death of a youth due to a fentanyl overdose. So, contraband has to be discovered. And searches are one of those mechanisms. However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to pay attention to whether we’re following policy when we do the searches and that we’re evaluating whether it is the best process for youth themselves.”

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