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Pious Perverts See other Pious Perverts Articles Title: Texas, Addressing Sexual Abuse Scandal, May Free Thousands of Its Jailed Youths Texas, Addressing Sexual Abuse Scandal, May Free Thousands of Its Jailed Youths By RALPH BLUMENTHAL HOUSTON, March 23 — Battered by a sexual abuse scandal in its juvenile justice system, Texas may soon free most of the 4,000 jailed youths who have served their minimum sentences but who are still being held, in many cases for reasons that are undetermined. Under plans announced Friday by the special master whom Gov. Rick Perry appointed to supervise the tarnished Texas Youth Commission, the cases of all juveniles who have served more than the nine-month minimum — 93 percent, by some accounts — will be reviewed by a panel of civil rights advocates, prosecutors and a youth official, reporting to a state judge. Unless the Youth Commission, which runs the state’s youth detention centers, can demonstrate that such juveniles pose a danger to the community, they will be released. “The burden is on the state,” Jay Kimbrough, the special master, said in Austin at a briefing for reporters. “I have seen enough and heard enough.” Mr. Kimbrough’s move is the latest turn in a case that broke last month with news that a Texas Ranger investigation in 2005 had corroborated sexual contacts between boys at the West Texas State School, in Pyote, and two top supervisors, who then resigned without charges filed. Youth Commission facilities are permitted on their own to extend sentences for misconduct, but parents of some young inmates say those decisions are often made capriciously, sometimes in retribution for the filing of grievances. And lawmakers suggested at a hearing last month that some youths had received lengthened sentences for refusing to have sex with corrections officers. The approach announced Friday was described by Will Harrell, executive director of the Texas office of the American Civil Liberties Union, as groundbreaking and “huge.” Mr. Harrell, who will serve on the review panel along with representatives of the N.A.A.C.P. and the Hispanic rights group Lulac, said that “this is all going to happen fast.” He and Mr. Kimbrough said the panel could be in place within weeks. The announcement came as federal officials confirmed an unrelated inquiry into accusations of sexual abuse at a federal center for detained illegal-immigrant children in South Texas. The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that a staff member suspected of molesting children at that center, the Texas Sheltered Care facility in Nixon, east of San Antonio, had been fired and that the F.B.I. had turned the case over to Texas prosecutors. Johnny Sutton, the United States attorney in San Antonio, confirmed in a statement that his office “worked with the F.B.I. investigating the allegations of improper sexual contact between a staff member of Texas Sheltered Care and minors who were housed at the facility.” But Mr. Sutton added: “We reluctantly concluded that the federal government did not have jurisdiction over any felony offenses allegedly committed. Because the most serious offense which might be brought by this office would at most be a misdemeanor, these allegations may be more effectively addressed by state authorities.” The shelter is in Gonzales County, whose sheriff, Glen A. Sachtleben, said he was aware of the case but had not been officially notified that the F.B.I. had turned it over to state authorities. Calls left with the local district attorney were not returned. In the meantime, all 72 children at the shelter have been moved to other locations, said a statement issued late Friday by Joshua Trent, associate director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Back in Austin, Mr. Kimbrough announced the forced resignation of another high official of the Texas Youth Commission, Ray Worsham, amid a continuing criminal investigation into “the unauthorized redaction of documents” sought in the investigation of sexual abuse. Mr. Worsham had only recently been promoted from the chief abuse investigator of the commission to inspector general. Mr. Kimbrough also announced that Jerome Parsee, the superintendent of the Youth Commission facility in Marlin, which receives all juveniles who are entering the detention system, had just been arrested on charges of falsely telling investigators that he was unaware of any accusations of sexual abuse there. The Youth Commission’s board of directors resigned under pressure last week, and many other top officials have been ousted. Families of incarcerated youths have long questioned the procedures by which sentences are extended, sometimes for seemingly minor infractions. Some parents spoke out at a State Senate hearing on Feb. 27 where Senator Juan Hinojosa, a Democrat from McAllen, said, “We found out a lot of youths are kept seven, eight months longer than required, and we want to know why.” “If a young person refuses to have sex with a supervisor,” the senator added, “they deduct a point, and they’re required to stay longer.” Mr. Kimbrough, who has visited some detention centers by motorcycle in recent days, said Friday that with extension of sentences as well as hiring and other matters, “there is no centralized procedure: each institution does its own thing.” He said the six-member sentencing review panel — made up of representatives from the rights groups as well as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, and the Youth Commission — would check the files of each juvenile held longer than nine months. If a compelling reason to hold the youth is not evident, the panel will require the Youth Commission to persuade a judge to do so. Most could be released outright, Mr. Kimbrough said, or others to halfway houses. But he said he had no wish to increase the burdens of parole officers. Releasing inmates would also take pressure off overburdened facilities, which now have a youth-to-staff ratio of 14 to 1, more than twice the national average, he said. Genger Galloway, whose son Joseph has complained of having been sexually molested in detention, voiced delight over the sentencing reviews. “I think it’s great, past time,” she said. “Joseph, I’ve been assured, will be getting out in 30 days. He’ll be coming home.” Staci Semrad contributed reporting from Austin.
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#1. To: aristeides (#0)
They call that "failing to cooperate with authorities."
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