Sexual Abuse In Texas Youth Prison

What is going on in Texas?

Police Sent to All Texas Youth Prisons

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Police went to 22 Texas Youth Commission facilities and the agency headquarters Tuesday to investigate claims that young inmates were sexually abused and that agency officials covered it up.

[...]Late last month, state lawmakers questioned agency staff about an investigation in 2005 that had found evidence that high-ranking officials at the West Texas State School in Pyote had repeated sexual contact with some of the 250 boys and young men housed there. An internal investigation found prison staff members had complained about the abuse to their supervisors but that no one took action for more than a year.

State lawmakers have complained that they didn't know of the problems until this year.

But Dwight Harris, the agency's executive director at the time, mentioned the investigation in testimony before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee March 15, 2005. Harris resigned last week.

4 senators' aides learned of issue in '05

AUSTIN – Aides to key state senators were told of sexual abuse allegations at Texas youth prisons in an e-mail two years ago. Other documents and testimony two years ago by a Texas Youth Commission official described the problem as well. Gov. Rick Perry's office was alerted, too.

But none of the warnings detailed the extent of the alleged abuse. They did not suggest a blooming crisis. And state leaders said Tuesday that they either didn't see the documents – part of the flood of paper and messages that accompanies a legislative session – or weren't told how broad the problem was.

The e-mail, released Tuesday by TYC officials, shows that staff members for four senators on the chamber's Criminal Justice Committee were sent correspondence flagged "high importance" detailing possible sexual abuse in early March 2005 – less than a month after the investigation at the West Texas State School began.

This bears some resemblance to the Mark Foley scandal. There can be no good explanation for why this took two years to gain the attention of the state government.