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A heartwarming video captured the Louisiana State Penitentiary's first-ever father-daughter dance, where prisoners reunited with their children for a night of dancing inside the walls of the nation's largest maximum-security prison.
According to CBS News, Leslie Harris recently reunited with his 17-year-old daughter for the dance while he's serving a decade-long sentence for armed robbery.
Harris reportedly wore a custom tuxedo and held a bouquet of roses to greet his daughter for the special night. Video shared on social media shows the two embracing and dancing to Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely."
Harris said he cherished the Louisiana State Penitentiary's first-ever father-daughter dance as he is expected to miss several of his teen's major life moments, including prom and graduation.
“Seeing her in a dress, crying and running to me just broke me down,” Harris said in a phone interview. “It made me think of all the years I missed out on in her life.”
The event is part of a growing trend of father-daughter dances inside U.S. prisons, including one featured in last year’s Netflix documentary Daughters. Officials said they hope to make the dance a tradition at the notoriously tough lockup, which houses more than 6,300 prisoners, including dozens on death row.
The dance was organized by God Behind Bars, a group that hosts reunification events in prisons nationwide. Assistant Warden Anne-Marie Easley said nearly 30 inmates were selected to participate in the dance based on good behavior.
The men practiced a surprise line dance for weeks. Harris said his most emotional moment came during their slow dance to “Butterfly Kisses.” Before the night ended, Harris gave his daughter a Bible with highlighted passages.
“That’s really the heart of it,” Jake Bodine, the founder of God Behind Bars, said in a statement. “Show these individuals who is counting on them — and once they realize the weight of that, they will hold themselves accountable for change.”
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