Beyond Scared Straight |

Follow Up

San Bernardino County, CA

In San Bernardino County outside LA, parents were losing control of their teens. Larry, an aggressive brawler, argued with deputies until one officer offered him a life-changing deal that had the potential to reunite him with a long-lost family member.

Larry

AT THE CONCLUSION OF PRODUCTIONLarry attends a church group and no longer spikes his hair. Deputy Navarro has located Larry’s father and is arranging a reunion between father and son.

LATEST UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2013Larry saw more during the jail tour than just a view of a horrible future behind bars. With the help of Deputy Navarro, he also peered back into his past to realize the root of his anger was the absence of his father.

Officer Navarro’s offer to help Larry find his biological father struck a chord with the seemingly unreachable teen. Larry says, “I really wasn’t going to believe it at that time, but then he got deep into the conversation, and that’s when I trusted him, and that made me break, because I really wanted to meet my real dad.”

After the program, Larry’s behavior immediately improved. His temper cooled and he learned to walk away from fights.

Officer Navarro kept his end of the deal as well. He was able to locate Larry’s father, providing Larry the opportunity to see him for the first time in more than a decade.