Cover-up Conspiracy by the Elite Texas Government?

It appears many Texas leaders are hiding now, as the public demands to know who knew what and when about the Texas Youth Commission sex and physical abuse scandal.  The scandal reached both shores of the nation and some foreign newspapers covered the horrors that were exposed. The Texas Monthly Magazine is demanding that the truth comes out.....who knew what and when? The Texas governor's office, the chief of staff of the TYC and top TYC officials all knew about the abuses back in 2004. The attorney general's office and key lawmakers were also aware of the brewing scandal in 2004. Records exposed communications between all these people. Why was no action taken back then, to stop the abuses and prevent further torture of these youth?

I advised the governor's office about the abuses and after they told TYC leaders about the emails, they decided to 'not respond' to the information. When I advised the attorney general's office about my book - "Raped by The State", which exposed the statewide abuses in TYC and that I was threatened for writing the book; they advised me to "'contact an attorney". (What are they for?) The lawmakers that I contacted stated "keep us posted". I did. I sent many emails to them about TYC and rampant abuses of youth and employees. I sent many emails about the issues to the Austin Statesman. They never responded. Showed no interest what so ever. Do folks in TYC have stock in the newspaper? Someone has a heavy influence in what the paper does. That's OK; the Dallas Morning News more than made up for the lacking response by the Austin paper.

Little interest was shown for my book, until the Texas Ranger investigation was released. WOW. Then I received calls from news media from all over the country. After the Dallas Morning News released their scorching report on the youth abuses in TYC, even the New York Times called me; followed by FOX News who wanted to know why the state of Texas was allowing incarcerated youth to be raped? Geraldo of 'Geraldo at Large' was upset by the 'rape by the state'. The Associated Press was alarmed about the massive abuses of the confined youth.

TYC employees advised me that the rogue TYC management put out the word that the book was false and staff should not buy the book, read the book or talk about the book! Talk about control and intimidation. It has gone on for years in TYC. I received many good comments from TYC employees who were glad that the truth was finally brought out about the dark insides of the TYC. There were a few who stated I should have never caused attention, and the youth deserved what they got! These kids were not their children. Employees at TYC with this attitude don't need to supervise our troubled youth....they are part of the problem.

One senator called me during the live video senate meeting and asked if I had sent copies of the book to the TYC board, who seemed lost during the hearings. I advised him "no, but the book is well known through-out TYC". Immediately after that, the senator held the book up on live coverage and asked the TYC board if they were aware of the book. Some of them answered "yes". He was then abruply cut-off without reason. Another senator had a copy of the book on his desk and used many quotes from the book. That was great I thought. The ACLU advised me that the book was the foundation used to reform the wild commission. There were many actual cases of abuse, mistreatment and mismanagement in the book. The senator told me he would get back with me, but he never did follow up.

TYC officials suppressed my book and I understand that, because they did not want the public to know about vast wastes of public funds, massive abuses of youth and misuse of state employees and other resources. Sure they wanted the book suppressed. But what about the government? The government used the book, which was great; but they never acknowledged that the book helped expose the statewide corruption. Why? Were they afraid that by doing so, their failure to take action sooner would also be exposed? Did they and their other agency cohorts decide to cover for one another to insure their own survival?

TYC has become darker and darker over the past twelve years. It has slipped deeper and deeper into deception, as it engaged in youth abuse and torment. Youth were in TYC who should not have been there. Youth were illegally detained with make shift hearings to extend their time for minor infractions and as retribution. Unknown thousands of youth were victimized by TYC management. Youth were released from TYC as enhansed criminals, rather than receiving badly needed treatment. The TYC Austin MAFIA that ran the agency for many years brought total shame to the commission. Families of confined youth, employees and the general public have all been deceived by TYC and it will take years to restore credibility to the fractured commission.

The black circle of influence within TYC management has been severly damaged. Good. Now the shutters can be opened allowing the public light to restore employee confidence in the fractured agency. Many good employees left TYC because of the unmanaged managers, that allowed TYC to collapse. Their are still good ole' boys left in the system that can cause the agency to slide again into the abyss, in a few years. It happened before.

Much of the public only knows about the sex scandal. That's only the tip of the iceberg. Sex and drugs are readily availble in TYC. Many staff engage in sex with youth and when caught, simply resign and move to another institution. They are easily rehired, since TYC does poor background checks and these staff have 'prior experience with youth'. Gang activity is serious and statewide. There are abuses in the parole program, the contract placement program, halfway houses and needless to say, most institutions are a disaster area. Caseworkers work to get youth released, while some parole officers work to get youth committed to institutions. Supervision in these programs are controlled out of Austin TYC....the enlightened who caused the downfall of this once proud youth commission.

Is there a conspiracy by Texas government officials to suppress the whole truth about this terrible scandal and my book? More cover-up amounts to more 'rape by the state'. There has been enough, let's clean up the entire mess including who knew what and when; and why they didn't react as responsible leaders of the great state of Texas. Many youth lay in their beds at night, far from home, wondering who would knock them in the head and rape them. These young people lived a nightmare, day after day; because people in power didn't take time to listen or take them seriously. Shame on Texas leaders. There were lots of clues that went ignored.

 Many of the bad administrators in TYC are now gone. More should follow. The house cleaning may have over-reacted to public outrage. Many tormented youth are being released without proper support. These youth are being set up to fail without good community support. Many will be pointed toward the adult prison system. For the past twelve years TYC has failed to provide real treatment for most youth. Most were simply warehoused and learned more criminal ways. Let's hope the new reconstruction efforts don't fail these youth also.

It appears that this scandal will grow even more in the next few years. Top federal officials with the US Dept. of Justice and US Attorney General's office appear to have played a part in the scandal. This is unfolding now and will be exposed more in the near future. Even connections in high places get frayed. Several major lawsuits have been filed about this scandal. Some administrators involved in the cover-up may get to visit the inside of a prison and stay for an extended period. 

Conspiracy? The public will make the final decision.