Lincoln Hills, a detention facility the state has ordered closed by 2021. (Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections)

Rian Nyblom, 18, was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the death of a staff member at Wisconsin’s infamous juvenile prison, the Lincoln Hills School for Boys. Nyblom pleaded guilty in April to two counts of being party to a crime of battery by a prisoner, a deal which reduced felony murder charges, and dropped an additional battery charge, against the teen, the AP reported. 

Prosecutors say that in June 2024, tensions arose between a then- 16-year-old Lincoln Hills resident and a female guard who the teen felt was abusing her power. The 16-year-old threw a cup of what he believed was soap on her, and proceeded to punch her repeatedly. When the teen ran out into the courtyard 49-year-old staff member Corey Proulx followed. After Proulx scuffled with  the teen, he sustained a head injury after falling to the pavement. Proulx died a day later. 

Nyblom allegedly told investigators that he knew of the 16-year-old’s issues with the female guard. Shortly before the fighting began Nyblom retrieved extra soup and conditioner, he told investigators, and gave it to the 16-year-old. Nyblom said he hadn’t witnessed the attack on the female guard, but did see the teen hit Proulx. 

Nyblom was sentenced to five years in prison, with 405 days counted as time served. He was transferred to the Lincoln County Jail last year. The 18-year-old had been sent to Lincoln Hills after being charged with misdemeanor criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct. To those charges, AP reported, Nyblom pleaded no contest and was found guilty in May. 

The teen to whom Nyblom supplied the soup and conditioner, who is now 17, faces one count of first-degree reckless homicide, and two counts of battery by a prisoner, and is charged as an adult. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, with a trial expected to begin in February. It’s possible that the teen’s lawyers will attempt to move the case back to juvenile court.

As of Aug. 1, there were 80 boys in Lincoln Hills, four girls in the Copper Lake School, and 26 youth at the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Facility, according to the Department of Corrections’ latest population report. That’s slightly up from the 78 boys held at Lincoln Hills in late April. The higher population number at the juvenile prison was noted by the Lincoln Hills’ court-ordered monitor around that same time. The monitor also highlighted enduring staffing vacancies and, in the past, had complained about staff treating students poorly, even exhibiting racist behaviors. 

In August 2024, following Proulx’s death, Republican lawmakers wrote letters to DOC Sec. Jared Hoy saying that Lincoln Hills had become less safe, and blamed the consent decree for limiting the ability of staff to use force against juvenile residents.