Decision could come next week on accused teen’s plea bargain

Kim Smith

Monday, April 16, 2001 | 11:38 a.m.

Sixteen-year-old Conan Pope next week is expected to announce whether he has cut a deal with prosecutors regarding the January 2000 shooting death of his father.

Sources close to the case say that if the teenager does enter a plea agreement, he would likely be placed in a new youthful offender program at the Southern Desert Correctional Center near Indian Springs.

Pope is accused of shooting his father, Frank Pope, 62, to death.

Prosecutors have alleged the boy killed his father with premeditation and deliberation, but his defense attorneys have said his actions were justified because he suffered years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of his father.

The youthful offender program was developed at the behest of Nevada Department of Prisons Director Jackie Crawford, who recognized the need to keep young people 14 to 21 away from adults while serving time, spokesman Glen Wharton said.

Studies have shown youthful offenders are at a higher risk of being physically and sexually abused in prison. What's more, youthful offenders are said to commit more violent crimes faster after their release than juveniles treated within the juvenile system.

Since November Nevada Department of Prison officials have been carefully selecting youthful offenders, removing them from the general population and placing them in the program, Wharton said.

In an interview last fall Crawford said the program was made possible when the state opened the High Desert State Prison, thus freeing up more bed space at Southern Desert.

Psychologists, prison officials, forensic experts, caseworkers and a representative of the National Institute of Corrections helped develop the program, Crawford said.

All recognized the need for a more balanced approach when dealing with young offenders, Crawford said. Warehousing kids isn't working, but neither did taking a more lenient approach, as was the case in the 1970s, she said.

"We're not condoning what they did; they need to be contained, but while they are here we need to help them address their issues," Crawford said.

The youths remain in a medium-security setting, but they participate in a four-phase program designed to make them productive members of society.

"When they go into the prison system, they are going into an environment that's predatory," Crawford said. "We want to allow them to grow and mature and learn how to handle issues without being vulnerable."

Sometimes, Crawford said, youthful offenders get into altercations by taking on an attitude of "I'm bad, I'm tough." But it's really only a defense mechanism, Crawford said.

According to literature on the program, young people are taught everything from proper hygiene and grooming to communication skills, stress management, problem solving and how to avoid gang involvement and peer pressure.

In addition, the youths are taught how to deal with family members in both dysfunctional and functional settings, parenting skills and alternatives to domestic violence.

The youths are also taught about such things as substance abuse, health, cultural sensitivity and taking responsibility for their own actions.

Wharton said that of the 10,000 inmates in the Nevada Department of Prisons, 23 are younger than 18. Thirty young people are currently participating in the youthful offender program.

Only those youthful offenders prone to violent outbursts in prison have been excluded, Wharton said.

Authorities have since learned that Frank Pope served time in prison in the 1960s for the smothering death of an infant daughter and was considered a suspect in the suspicious death of another child.

Attorneys from both sides have declined comment on the exact terms of the proposed plea agreement, other than to say they will recommend to District Judge Michael Cherry that the boy be placed in the youthful offender program.