CATLETTSBURG A 19-year-old was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday for his role in an assault at the Boyd Regional Juvenile Detention Center in 2022.
Matthew Young, of Monticello, was indicted by a Boyd County grand jury on multiple violent charges in August 2023 following an event at the local juvenile facility in November 2022 where Young was accused of escaping from a cell block in order to assault another inmate.
Due to the lack of public records related to juvenile offenders, specific details of the assault have not been released, but in previous court proceedings Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kierston Rosen said the incident involved Young and another inmate assaulting three others, including a correctional employee.
While Young was initially charged with first-degree assault, Rosen said camera footage later revealed the other inmate as the perpetrator for that charge.
As a result, Young’s first-degree assault charge was amended to second-degree.
In March, Young pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree assault, third-degree escape and third-degree assault on a correctional employee.
Despite Young’s admission, prosecutor’s pushed for the maximum punishment on both second-degree assault charges, which individually cap at a 10-year active sentence.
Not only did Young receive the maximum sentence for each assault charge, Boyd Circuit Judge John Vincent said on Monday those sentences will run consecutive to one another, totaling a 20-year sentence for the teenager.
Within that two-decade stay, Young received 90 days for escape and two years for the assault on the correctional employee.
