I knew about custody transfer of Austin Vantrease’s even before being notified by the Victim Hotline. The update was posted to their website on the day it occurred. By all indications, he was transferred from the Martinsburg Correctional Facility and accepted into Huttonsville Correctional Center on June 27th. Here is the booking mug shot. You can scroll your cursor over it to enlarge the photo (don’t forget to pin it to your Pinterest):
What does this all mean? I have no earthly idea. The West Virginia Department of Corrections website doesn’t name its current security level. I know it is at least a medium-security male facility (that’s what is was before the state change its name in 1970), but there are many references to it being a maximum security center. Either way, it has very dangerous people there.
As I understand it, he is no longer bouncing around among regional jails (short-term holding) and is in now in a full-blown prison (long-term custody). I wouldn’t read anything in to it as it relates to a parole request, which he is apparently eligible for in July. Yes, it could mean parole was denied, but it could as easily mean that was the only facility with an open bed. I suppose we’ll all know in due time.
I thought you might be interested in how I’m notified of Vantrease’s whereabouts. I have three ways.
- The West Virginia Department of Corrections Website. Specifically the Offender Search tool.
- Telephone Notification. This is typically sent the day following custody transfer. It is an automated call to me that says the same thing as is written in the email notification (see below), but only alerts me during certain hours. Hey, I don’t want to be bothered in the middle of the night.
- E-mail Notification. This also usually comes in the following day, but at any hour. Here is an example of what I receive:
From: WV DOC VINE <vine@globalnotifications.com>
Date: June 29, 2012 5:21:03 AM EDT
To: <Kdiviney@ryansrally.org>
Subject: A message from WV DOC VINE
Reply-To: The VINE Service <service_center@vine.appriss.com>
This e-mail is to inform you that AUSTIN VANTREASE has been transferred from Martinsburg Correctional Center as of 6/28/2012. The offender is now in the custody of Huttonsville Correctional Center. Your registration with VINE has also been transferred. You will continue to receive updates about this offender.
If you have any concerns or questions, please contact the Division of Correction’s Central Office during business hours by calling (304) 558-2036. After hours, please contact the Charleston Work Release Center by calling (304) 558-2763.
This notification is sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Corrections’ Victim Notification Service. It is our hope that this information has been helpful to you.
Sincerely,
West Virginia Division of Corrections
On the subject of Austin Vantrease’s parole, I know absolutely nothing about its status. You can count on me letting you know when I find out more. Good or bad, I’ll keep you informed. In the meantime, if anyone has information about Huttonsville Prison I’d like to hear about it.
http://www.paroleboard.wv.gov/Pages/FAQ.aspx#5
Does the Parole Board grant parole from the Regional Jails?
The Parole Board holds monthly hearings at the Regional Jails. The inmates have to be eligible for a parole hearing, have an approved home plan and all the documentation as required by law. However, if an inmate is granted parole from the Regional Jail, the inmate has to be transferred to a Department of Correction’s Facility soonafter for intake and fingerprinting before they can actually be released on parole. Should an inmate be granted parole from a Regional Jail, you should anticipate seven to ten days before the inmate is released.
The Huttonsville prison is one of the oldest facilities in the system and was primarily a labor camp back in the old days. I remember the farm that the prisoners worked along the road and river valley. I think they had a metal shop, license plates, and woodworking as well. It is very isolated and, although in a beautiful part of WV, not a great place. Maybe it is more permanent lodging, hopefully.
I live near HCC, and my uncle was assistant warden there for many yrs.-even lived on the prison farm. HCC is not the place to be if you’re looking to serve easy time. It is old,& crowded,and jusy plain scary. They seem to be on lockdown much of the time & they have a rep for the bad meals. My nurse friends who have worked there say that certain non-curable illness are rampant.So, when I read that he was transferred there, I smiled-finally, a teeny bit of justice!
Hi Ken,
I’m glad you are able to keep track of where AV is serving time. Please keep us posted on the matter of parole. Sounds like some of the locals from WV have the inside scoop on this prison.
I never knew how many wonderful people there are in WV til now. God bless all of you who faithfully support Ken, Ryan, Sue and Kari. They are a beautiful family, through and through, and you can see how hard they work together to help Ryan and help each other. It is a privilege to know them.
Ken, I hope you’re having a decent day and staying cool in this ridiculous heat. Praying for your family as always, and hoping you know how many people out there think about you guys every day and firmly believe in Ryan’s continued healing.
Love, hugs, and always my prayers
Paula
Hope he gets roughed up a little –a lot. Maybe he will get lucky and be someone’s boyfriend.
His life is over. When he does get out it will be interesting if he is able to find any employment.
My prayer’s are with Ryan.
Ken, Glad people from WV let it be known it’s not a place you’d want to be.When the time comes ,hope we can send letters or e-mails to help keep him there/.When Ryan is better ,that’s when he should be allowed to possibly go before board… Hoping Ryan and all are having a calm,cool day .Always here
Love gail
Hope Ryan is doing better with the UTI, and that he had a restful night.
Great news on the Vantrease convict. How proud the Vantrease parents must be of their son!
HAHAHAHA….Huttonsville?!?!?!?!…Let’s just say that no one from Delaware would ever be prepared for this place. I’m predicting Vantrease will make a great girlfriend to many there 🙂 Hoping Ryan’s UTI is clearing up…
SHSP in morgantown
i did 13 years a Huttonsville and i will tell you one thing most inmates try to get along with everyone because good behavior leads to parole and most inmates see the parole board within 4 yr of getting to Huttonsville. I had no problems wit inmates . I had a job mowing grass and painting the prison. Regional jails is harder time than prisons. He is off easy now he gets 5 hr.of yard time schooling library contact visits up to 4 a month for 4 hr. so I don’t think that he is suffering like you think
Sorry to say but the only “girlfriends” there are voluntary. I was there from about 2000 to 2007 and I can tell you for a fact that approximately 70% of all people doing time there are sex offenders and of those, some 80% of them are for kids under the age of 10. That was quite a shocking statistic but I got that from a friendly employee I came to know while I was there. Huttonsville was still medium/maximum security when I was there but I was one of the ones on outside work release. Sex offenders run that “prison” now but prison time is much preferable over regional jails any day!
No offense to you, but Pinterest is for recipes, home decorating, wedding ideas, craft ideas …ways to make your life and home beautiful. Ideas to entertain your children over the summer….etc. It is a place many women like to escape to dream of their kitchen, paint colors, cabinet pull choices. I think you misunderstand the intention of the site.
Kyne, Pinterest may have started out with that intent, but has grown to be so much more!
It is being used by Ann Romney and Michelle Obama to reach out to help their husbands with their political campaigns. It is being used by law enforcement agencies to reach out to the public. Many businesses are using it now, and it is the fastest growing form of social media today. It is used to “pin” your interests or information you want to share, and for some, like the law enforcement agencies or concerned citizens, that can mean informing the public about felons, convicts, criminals in their areas or about to be released to their area.
If I wanted to know about a convict being released, the law agency will send you an email if you sign up for it. It will not be sent on Pinterest.
I did not say they sent out the releases of convicts, I said they could use it. Maybe in the future they will. Maybe some do we are not aware of. Kansas City, Boca Raton, Florida and others do already post among other information the mug shots of criminals on their Pinterest site. Like I said, it is the fastest growing social media today, so why not use it? You are protesting to much against the idea of pinning from Ryan’s site, why?
According to Wikipedia: “Pinterest’s mission is to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting”[3] via a global platform of inspiration and idea sharing” — so it sounds to me like people use it for whatever distinctive interests they may have.
Wikipedia also mentioned that “In March of 2012, law enforcement is using Pinterest to reach new audiences beginning with the Kansas City Police Department in Missouri.”
Another tech site stated: “Essentially any topic you could think of could be a board. And you can make it as broad or specific as you want.” Another site remarked that “The uses for Pinterest are only limited by imagination.”
So it sounds like Pinterest is a social media venue in which a person can communicate his/her own specific interests, and these interests are not limited to the mindset or perspective of one person/topic/idea. Basically you can design your site to reflect what matters to you.
It really shouldn’t come as any surprise that Ken would want to let the world at large know about what happened to his son, should it? Knowing the great trauma suffered by the Diviney family, it makes sense Ken would want to utilize whatever social media and other means available to inform others of his concerns about Ryan’s attackers.
And I guess if you don’t want to look at Ken’s board, you don’t have to, right?
Kyne, shooting down ideas just because you don’t care for them doesn’t mean others have to follow suit. If Ryan were my child I’d do everything in my power to get his story out. In fact, he’s NOT my child, but I still do everything to get his story out!!! He is the victim here, and his story needs to be heard (A) to get him the help that he needs, and (B) to show others how in the blink of an eye, many lives have changed from a violent, senseless act. Perhaps one life can be saved or has been saved by Ryan’s story.
***everything I can do
I still stand by Pinterest is MAINLY for women that share ideas on cooking, decorating, fashion etc. I understand Ryan is a victim and his story may help others but honestly probably not. This type of violence is not done by people that read this forum nor use Pinterest. If you really want to make a difference, offer to speak at a college, just maybe you would reach a kid that is out late at night, in a mood for a confrontation and has liquor on board. The problem with this forum is a group of you will jump on someone if their opinion differs at all with Kens or yours. How do you think that is helping? That just turns people away. If this continues, you may find the readers become less and less.
“The problem with this forum is a group of you will jump on someone if their opinion differs at all with Kens or yours. How do you think that is helping?”
Perhaps you don’t know what support is, Kyne. I hope that you have support like those on this site should anything happen to you or one of your children! And I would hope that, should anything happen, that you would sing your story from the mountaintops as Ken has been doing.
You should take a moment to do some research and find some compassion for what is going on here rather than criticize Ken’s family and friends for supporting him.
The more Ken can inform others, the better – no matter the method of delivery. You can always chose not to read or ignore him on Pinterest if you like but you need to understand and appreciate the creative ways that Ken is sharing the amazing story that has become his life. IMOH Ken is reinventing the possibilities of what Pinterest can be used for. Bravo Ken!
Regarding Pinterest, it seems everyone makes good points. To me, it another way to get Ryan’s story out. If it mainly reaches women in that venue (and I agree Pinterest is female dominated), then that’s fine. I’m having moderate success with Pinterest in getting new readers, so it’s worthwhile to continue… at least for now.
I started Ryan’s boards because it offers an excellent way to visually share all that’s involved in his care and treatment. People seem to “share” many items I pin, to include public notification of Ryan’s attackers. I guess I went into it without any preconceived ideas and bucked the traditional trend. I’ll be interested to see if more will do this as the service evolves. Who knows?
Ken, as far as I’m concerned, you are more than entitled to get the message out about Ryan and what happened to him any way you see fit.
After all the suffering you and your family have been forced to endure, I would think there would not be a soul (except for a notable few) who would have any objection, complaint or untoward commentary at all about what you do. To do so speaks to a very specific conflict of interest…
I think some people are just not happy unless they are mad at something or someone. People have made hurtful comments and don’t understand the backlash. This is a family that has been traumatized beyond comprehension!!!! Getting Ryan’s story out via Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, or other social media, could bring in more donations or other forms of support. I don’t know how many times I’ve spoken with others about Ryan who had already heard about him before I even said anything. All because they heard about the attack from the internet or TV, or newspaper. Some of these friends were folks with connections who were able to get things done for the Diviney family. (Patio, basement, kitchenette, transport services, etc). Ken, please don’t stop exploring any avenue that could reach others!!!
I made a board this evening titled Remember Ryan? In hopes of reminding people and in some instances making those who didn’t know of the tragic events that happened to Ryan known. I’ve spent several days reading the blogs that Ken and Sue have written starting from the first one and working my way back to the current blog posting. I live in WV (southern) and recall hearing of this horrible act via the news media when it happened. I actually ran across Ryan’s sister posting about a petition to stop the early release and signed that petition. How I can across it I have no clue but after I signed it I made myself a note on my FB page privately to remind myself that when I got some down time to look into how Ryan is doing and hence found this blog site………… I realize this is an old post and should of probably waited until I got to a more recent post to post on but I just wanted to let you know about the Pinterest board……….. I like Ken and Sue have 2 children, oldest being a son, youngest a daughter and this horrible accident is something NO parent should EVER have to go through, it’s unfair and as I spend hours reading these blogs my heart hurts for the family. 🙁 Life isn’t fair
So very sorry for Ryan and family.
I’ll remember you all in my prayers.
Terri, it’s never to late to comment on a post. I will always read it and so will all those who subscribe to being notified of a new comment.