HELENA – The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that courts must decide on a case-by-case basis whether results of state investigations into allegations of child abuse and neglect should be made public.
The high court’s decision stems from a 2005 Department of Public Health and Human Services investigation into allegations of child abuse at the Swan Valley Youth Academy, a now-closed military-style boot camp near Condon.
The results of the investigation were made public in 2007, when a Helena judge ordered the state to release a version of the report, which excluded private information about the alleged victims and some academy staff members.
Disability Rights Montana, a Helena-based nonprofit advocacy group, filed a lawsuit last November, arguing the process it had to undergo to release the report was overly burdensome.
Stay Connected with the Daily Roundup.
Sign up for our newsletter and get the best of the Beacon delivered every day to your inbox.
