A former guard at the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility was sentenced to 90 days in jail yesterday for grabbing, squeezing and twisting the private parts of a teenage boy at the Kailua institution last year.

State prosecutors asked for a maximum five-year prison term for the third-degree sexual assault conviction against Gilbert Hicks, arguing that a message must be sent to guards that they cannot abuse and dehumanize the juveniles.

State Deputy Attorney General Marcus Sierra said these crimes are difficult to detect because guards don't want to report abuses and the teenagers often feel no one will believe them.

"This is the kind of fertile environment in which abuse blossoms," he said.

But Hicks, 50, who lost his job of 24 years after his conviction, apologized and Circuit Judge Richard Pollack said he was placing Hicks on five-year probation and ordered the 90-day jail sentence for what the judge called "inappropriate roughhousing."

Pollack allowed Hicks to serve his term on weekends to accommodate his job as a lot attendant for a car dealership.

The youth facility has come under fire in recent years for the way it treats the juveniles sent there by Family Court. In 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i issued a blistering report alleging rape, brutality and overcrowding.

The youth correctional institution is now under investigation by the Justice Department, which inspected the facility last year and described it as being in a "state of chaos." The report said the juveniles lack protection from violence and from trying to harm themselves and committing suicides.

Hicks' sexual-assault case was one of a list of abuses against juveniles cited by Justice Department report.

The ACLU also has a pending lawsuit against the state officials alleging that three juveniles have been abused at the facility because they are gay or perceived to be gay. Lois Perrin, ACLU Hawai'i's legal director, yesterday said Hicks' conduct was "deplorable," but the bigger issue is why the facility "fell into chaos in the first instance."

She said it's not enough to focus on the wrongdoers. "The state must also address the institutional problems" noted in the Justice Department's report, she said.

Perrin said they would have preferred a "stronger message," but "we're pleased that a message was sent that this kind of conduct will not be tolerated and it's criminal."

Sierra said the testimony at trial was that the youth refused to clean his room in January last year as Hicks had ordered. Later that day, Hicks, who weighed 250 pounds and stood 6 feet 4, approached the 5-foot-7 teen and told him to grab the guard's private parts, Sierra said. The youth responded that Hicks should grab the teen's private parts.

Hicks grabbed the youth, who screamed, Sierra said. Hicks responded with laughter, the state lawyer said.

"It was a deliberate abuse of power," Sierra said.

The teenager was 17 when he was assaulted. The reason he was at the facility was not disclosed because it was not considered relevant to the criminal case and because of privacy reasons. He and four others have a pending lawsuit against the state, state officials and five guards, including Hicks, alleging abuses at the facility.

Hicks was a basketball standout for the University of Hawai'i-Hilo from 1975 to 1977.

"I committed a crime and I'm sorry for it," Hicks told the judge in asking for mercy.

He said overwork and undertraining for the guards, as well as the "chaos" at the facility, sometimes leads to "bad judgment."

Hicks also said he won't repeat the crime, which he described as a "spur of the moment" reaction.

Sierra said the victim was most bothered by Hicks being suspended with pay for about 18 months and collecting about $3,400 a month in salary before he resigned while the teenager remained in custody. "What he (the teenager) is asking for is justice," Sierra said.

Pollack noted Hicks lost his job, must register as a sex offender and cannot continue coaching youths. The judge said Hicks has strong family ties with a wife of more than 24 years and three children. He said he agreed with the probation officer's assessment that Hicks will likely do well on probation.

Pollack also said Hicks' apology is "an important first step."

The judge said while the youth's statement did not constitute provocation, it was a "contributing circumstance" of what the judge said was "inappropriate roughhousing."

Sierra said the jail sentence sends a message, but he said he was disappointed it's not stronger with a five-year prison term.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.